Cardinal  Felipe Arizmendi , Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and responsible for the Doctrine of the Faith at the  Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) , offers Exaudi readers his weekly article.

FACTS

Our country has experienced very tense times following the death of the top leader of the  Jalisco New Generation Cartel,  killed by the Army and the National Guard. It is a cause for hope that our federal government has finally decided to abandon its permissive and self-serving ”  hugs, not bullets” policy.  Even if this was achieved with the help and perhaps due to economic pressure from the United States, we hope that this marks a new direction in policy to curb the immense power wielded by these armed groups, who have come to see themselves as the owners of entire regions and infrastructure.

We do not rejoice in anyone’s death, and we deeply regret the many deaths that occurred during this operation. The criminals know the risks they face: arrest and imprisonment, or even death. While they are human beings, they cannot be given free rein to do as they please at the expense of so many innocent and hardworking people whom they exploit and kill if they do not comply with their demands. It is deeply painful that so many law enforcement officers, who gave their lives in service to the people, have been killed. Our gratitude to them and our prayers for all those killed and their families.

Priests and bishops, nuns, and other pastoral agents cannot remain indifferent to these realities. Most members of criminal groups profess to be Catholic and always carry religious images with them. Our vocation and mission is to be with our people, to accompany them in their uncertainties and dangers, to pray for their intentions and needs, to console them in their sorrows, and to demonstrate that we are brother pastors, close and compassionate. We are concerned that the Christian faith has not taken deep root among criminals, and this urgently requires us to rethink our catechesis. We suffer with our people and do what we can to overcome this deeply troubling situation, based on our faith in Jesus Christ, victor over sin and temptation.

LIGHTNING

What do we have to offer our people in the face of these realities? The first thing is to accompany them, to be close to them. Pope Francis says:  “The evangelizing community gets involved in the daily lives of others through its actions and gestures, bridges distances, humbles itself even to the point of humiliation if necessary, and embraces human life, touching the suffering flesh of Christ in the people. The evangelizing community is ready to accompany. It accompanies humanity in all its processes, however difficult and prolonged they may be”  (EG 24).

What do we offer our country? We have no armies, no ready-made solutions, but we do have a fundamental answer:  “We are aware that it is essential to discover that in the face of this reality that challenges and questions us, we all have to begin again from Christ. To start from this personal and transformative encounter of each believer with Jesus in their life, which opens an authentic process of conversion, communion, and solidarity. This moment of encounter with the Son of God is fundamental in the life of every Christian”  (PGP 85).

“From this perspective of the Redeemer God, we pastors are called to be more sensitive and closer to the people and thus face the challenges of our country. Reality is a theophany, that is, God continues to speak to us through the signs of the times. We cannot be indifferent to the geographical and existential peripheries that demand that we leave our comfort zones”  (PGP 145).

In Aparecida, we say:  “ We have no other joy or priority than to be instruments of the Spirit of God, in the Church, so that Jesus Christ may be encountered, followed, loved, adored, proclaimed, and communicated to all, despite all difficulties and resistance.  This is the best service  — His service! —that  the Church has to offer to individuals and nations ”  (DA 3). “ Knowing Jesus Christ through faith is our joy; following Him is a grace, and transmitting this treasure to others is a task that the Lord, in calling and choosing us, has entrusted to us”  (DA 18).  “The joy we have received in our encounter with Jesus Christ… we wish to share with everyone… Knowing Jesus is the best gift anyone can receive; having encountered Him is the best thing that has happened to us in life, and making Him known through our words and deeds is our joy”  (DA 29).

ACTIONS

What do we offer our people in the face of these violent events? I repeat: We have neither gold nor silver, much less armies to protect them; but we have what can give a different meaning to life and society. We have the treasure of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, the source of peace and brotherhood, and we are certain that knowing and following Him is what guarantees that there will be other families and another society, where we are all brothers and sisters, incapable of harming others, respectful and supportive of everyone. Let the government do its part; we offer Jesus Christ, the guarantee of a new homeland.