“We want to express our closeness as Pastors to the people of Mexico, especially for the effects suffered as a result of the pandemic, natural disasters, the effects of violence and insecurity reported Fides News Agency.

We wish to walk with families and their life stories, to learn to be an open, synodal, Samaritan and outgoing Church”. These are the words expressed by the Mexican Bishops in their message to the people of God published at the end of the Assembly of the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), which took place from November 8 to 10.

As they explain in the message, sent to Fides, the objectives of the meeting were to evaluate the commitments to be assumed, as Bishops and as Church, to “offer pastoral responses, real and effective, to so many needs and sufferings”. In particular, the Bishops think “of those who have experienced the ravages of the death of friends and family; those who continue to fall into poverty, those who have lost their social, work and food security, the forced migrants, those who disappeared and those seduced and trapped by crime”.

This situation demands a change of mentality, a different way of living. “Mexico can change for the better! People in Mexico believe in great values!”, the Bishops exhort, inviting “to set out, taking responsibility for each other… We must not be overwhelmed by individualism, greed, and selfishness. The answer to common situations is to walk together; involve everyone, each contributing with their own vision and effort”. Walking together in communion and unity involves overcoming fragmentation, division, and political polarization. “Together we can learn from each other, warm hearts, inspire our minds, and give new strength to our hands. We all need each other in this common adventure”, the message reaffirms. The Bishops, therefore, exhort to follow a synodal path, to open up to a sincere and enriching dialogue, full of truth and attentive listening, and finally to choose “the right paths, putting aside indifference, exclusion, and rejection of the other”.

Faced with this critical situation, the Bishops invite us to hope. “Christ assures us of his presence and of his victory. He accompanies us until the end of time. He walks with us, as he did with the discouraged disciples of Emmaus”. They, therefore, invite the people of God to revive the Christian values of the Gospel, looking to Santa Maria de Guadalupe, who “walked with Mexico for five centuries.

She accompanied us in all the important moments of our history, as a Mexican people. She teaches us to be rooted in the culture of encounter and unity, and reaffirms her love and her maternal presence”.