Mexico: Bishops Decry Prevailing Violence, Impunity In Country

By David Ramos

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference expressed its concern Thursday over the ever-present threats to the lives of women and the weakest in the country.

In a statement released April 28, during the conference’s 112th Plenary Assembly, the Mexican bishops pointed to the threats “to human dignity and the values of family, life, freedom of expression, democracy, education and hospitality in solidarity, and in the midst of prevailing violence, injustice and impunity.”

This situation, they noted, affects “especially the poor, migrants, women and the weakest.”

However, they stressed that hope in the Risen Christ impels Catholics to continue “fighting for peace, justice, tolerance, solidarity and dialogue.”

The Mexican bishops emphasized that “the presence of Christ, the Crucified-Risen One, always instills confidence and hope.”

“Confidence not only because of his assistance, which guarantees us victory over sin and death, but also because of that which he has placed in us to continue his work,” the bishops said.

“And the hope that no reality, no matter how difficult, painful or complex it may be, has the last word, and always opens us to the possibility that with our existence, lived according to the Heart of Christ, the seeds of the Kingdom are sown,” they added.

The bishops then encouraged the faithful “to discover hope beyond the characteristics typical of our changing times.”

“We dare to affirm, with our eyes on the Risen One, that neither the culture of death, nor violence, nor lies, nor evil, will have the last word,” they said.

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference also highlighted “the deep cultural and religious roots that give us identity as a Mexican people, the mature fruit of the genuine testimony of many missionary disciples throughout five hundred years of evangelization, and of the presence of Mary of Guadalupe, who has translated for us the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with great tenderness and in a very kindly voice: ‘Am I not here who am your mother?’”

The bishops also asked the faithful “to avoid making one-sided readings of the times we live in, which contribute to polarization: those from above, those from below; those of before, those of now; the good ones, the bad ones”.

“Faced with complex times, a new boldness is necessary and the lucidity of believers, fixing their gaze on the Prince of Peace”, they said.