El Semanario de Guadalajara.- The causes of violence against members of the Church in Mexico have changed in recent years. Officially, there is no persecution against the Church, but there is clear harassment. However, when we say that the causes of violence have changed, it is because there are many worrying contrasts.
The Catholic Church in Mexico has always been interested in building peace. Notable examples in this regard are the efforts led by the recently deceased Archbishop of Morelia, Carlos Garfias Merlos, and other Mexican Bishops, particularly in the states of Michoacán, Jalisco, Guerrero, and Morelos, to carry out peace efforts and promote truces in order to end violence.
Organized crime in the country, which has infiltrated government and military institutions, is executing a strong strategy of violence against Catholic priests because they are “social stabilizers.” Threats are part of the imposition of narco-culture, narco-economics, and narco-politics in vulnerable communities, where ordinary laypeople are also being attacked, particularly those involved in activism or parish pastoral work with social influence.
The consequences of murderous acts against ministers of worship in Mexican communities translate into a culture of silence and terror, used as ingredients for criminal impunity; in the imposition of norms in large territories, that is, in the control of the local economy and forced recruitment; and finally, in structures of order and power that are configured into true “narco-governments.”
The Catholic Multimedia Center has documented more than 80% impunity in these crimes, which makes clear the deep ineffectiveness of federal, state, and municipal security systems, as well as the initial tendency of authorities to minimize the problem, attributing the murders to “generalized violence” or supposed personal defects of the victims. Another problem is the polarization provoked by the political class. Specific incidents of media attacks by politicians or public officials against the Catholic clergy in Mexico have been identified.
These focus on accusations of interference in politics or the exposure of facts uncomfortable for the political class, such as criticism of violence, insecurity, and pacification policies. On the other hand, extortion and fraud against Catholic ministers in the country have been increasing over the past seven years. Unfortunately, the number of extortions is higher than the number of complaints filed.
The figure regarding economic losses is not known, nor which groups are dedicated to extortion and whether they are exclusively organized crime gangs. Nor is there an exact figure for the parishes in the country that have reported paying protection money. So far in the current administration, nearly 30 violent cases against members of the Catholic Church have been recorded in different parts of this nation, and to date an undetermined number of attacks, robberies, and desecrations of Catholic churches in Mexico. We will continue to make this unfortunate phenomenon visible, where we are not talking about cold numbers, but about the lives and dreams of men and women who should not have died.