Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, bishop emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and responsible for the Doctrine of Faith in the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM), offers Exaudi readers his weekly article titled “Church Mediator of Peace.”
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LOOK
There has been no shortage of those who disqualify the efforts of the bishops and priests of Guerrero to help find peace in the populations that live ravaged by organized crime. It has not been possible to eradicate this plague, among other reasons, because lower governments do only what they are allowed from above. Hopefully, the new leaders we elect will change their strategy. In this situation, we cannot remain only criticizing the government and complaining, but we must all do as much as we can to recover family and social peace. That is what they have tried to do both in Guerrero and in other places. Other bishops do the same, although without publicity. The desired success is not always achieved, because these groups have their economic interests, and money has enslaved them, but we contribute as much as we can, despite the dangers to which one is exposed, because we go towards them without escorts and without weapons, only with faith in God and the hope of peace. If some truces are reached between them, without the mediation of the government, so that they do not continue killing each other, so that they respect their businesses and territories among themselves, and leave the people in peace, it is not ideal, but that step is not negligible. The ideal is for them to lay down their weapons and not continue extorting, and the government should work harder on that, but, in the meantime, they should leave the people alone. That is an achievement that should be valued; meanwhile, let the civil authority do what it has to do. We would like the seed we sowed to bear one hundred percent good fruit, but if it only produces 20, or 10 percent, it is already a gain that we cannot underestimate.
While in Chiapas, I had several experiences in this sense. My predecessor, Bishop Samuel Ruiz, had to mediate between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and the government, so that there were no more deaths and the rights of the indigenous people were respected. I had to dialogue with Zapatistas and anti-Zapatistas, most of them indigenous, to prevent them from killing each other over the possession of land, or for political issues. We promoted dialogues between Tseltal indigenous women from Oxchuc who were fighting for the municipal presidency, each dragging their well-armed groups to fight for their interests. On one occasion, we suffered destruction in the diocesan Curia, where we were holding dialogues among them, because one of those groups wanted to triumph. We had to mediate between Tsotsile indigenous people from Chenalhó and Chalchihuitán, who were fighting over territorial limits, since federal agrarian authorities had modified them, without taking into account the histories and rights of these two neighboring municipalities. There were deaths and hundreds of displaced people, and we could not remain without doing everything possible for peace among them.
Within the diocese itself, it was necessary to mediate between different models of the Church, so that they respected each other and worked together for evangelization and peace. On two occasions they kidnapped me for a few hours, because a group wanted me to support them and to ignore the other’s right. One thing is said, but we cannot reduce our pastoral service to prayer, which is absolutely necessary and indispensable, but we must approach God by praying and for peace by dialogue.
DISCERN
Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli tutti, says:
“While the Church respects the autonomy of politics, it does not relegate its own mission to the private sphere. On the contrary, it cannot and should not remain on the sidelines in the construction of a better world, nor fail to awaken the spiritual forces that fertilize all life in society. It is true that religious ministers should not engage in partisan politics, typical of lay people, but not even they can renounce the political dimension of existence that implies constant attention to the common good and concern for integral human development. The Church has a public role that is not limited to its assistance and educational activities, but rather seeks to promote man and universal brotherhood. It does not intend to dispute earthly powers, but rather to offer itself as a home among homes – that is the Church -, open to witness to today’s world the faith, hope and love of the Lord and those whom He loves with predilection. A house with open doors. The Church is a house with open doors, because she is a mother. And like Mary, the Mother of Jesus, we want to be a Church that serves, that leaves home, that leaves its temples, that leaves its sacristies, to accompany life, sustain hope, be a sign of unity to build bridges, break walls, sow reconciliation” (276).
“Religious convictions about the sacred meaning of human life allow us to recognize the fundamental values of our common humanity, the values by virtue of which we can and must collaborate, build and dialogue, forgive and grow, allowing the set of voices form a noble and harmonious song, instead of the fanatical shouting of hatred” (283).
“The commandment of peace is inscribed deep in the religious traditions that we represent. Religious leaders are called to be authentic ‘dialoguers’, to work in building peace not as intermediaries, but as authentic mediators. Middlemen seek to please all parties, in order to obtain a profit for themselves. The mediator, on the other hand, is the one who keeps nothing for himself, but gives himself generously, until he is consumed, knowing that the only gain is peace. Each of us is called to be an artisan of peace, uniting and not dividing, extinguishing hatred and not preserving it, opening the paths of dialogue and not building new walls” (284).
ACT
What can you and I do for peace? Start with yourself: if you have enemies, dialogue peacefully with them and reconcile. In your family, spouses avoid fighting and, if there are differences, learn to dialogue, listen to each other and respect each other. Educate your children not to fight, but to share among themselves and with others, and to defend the rights of those harassed by family and school bullying. Let us support these efforts with our prayer, which has extraordinary strength.
