The Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, revealed last week that he was stopped and questioned at a checkpoint manned by drug traffickers while visiting the northern part of Mexico’s Jalisco state.
According to ArquiMedios, a weekly publication of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, the cardinal made the statement at a press conference on June 26.
The cardinal lamented Mexico’s current climate of violence, which included the recent killings of two Jesuit priests and another man in a church in the state of Chihuahua.
The priests were attempting to protect the man, who had fled inside the church while being pursued by an armed assailant, who shot him and the two priests, killing all three.
At the press conference, the archbishop explained that he was “stopped at two checkpoints, obviously belonging to organized crime, and they demand that you tell them where you’re coming from, what’s your purpose, what you’re doing there.”
“I mean, that’s like the most normal, the most natural thing, but why?” the cardinal asked during the press conference.
“This is due to the deterioration of values, respect for life, respect for institutions,” so it is important to assume an attitude of individual responsibility in the current situation, he said.
The cardinal said that “we must all be aware that, if we do not propose each one in his field, in his place, in his relationships, to be builders of peace, of understanding, of reconciliation, we will end up destroying each other.”
The Archbishop of Guadalajara urged authorities to do their jobs and ensure the safety of all citizens.
“We’re not asking that someone be shot to death, we’re just asking that they enforce the law,” he said.
In other recent incidents of violence in the country, 13 people were killed, including four police officers, in a shootout between law enforcement and drug traffickers in El Salto, Jalisco state, and the Bishop of Zacatecas, Sigifredo Noriega Barceló, was stopped and questioned by organized crime members.
Mexico is witnessing a dramatic increase in violence. The country experienced the highest number of homicides in its history between 2018 and 2021. The time span includes President Enrique Pea Nieto’s final year in office and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s first three years in office. Mexican presidents serve for six years.
According to official figures, more than 12,847 homicides occurred in Mexico between January 1 and June 26 of this year.