
Catholics in Chiapas demand justice for Padre marcelo. Photo: Especial
During the protest, they requested the disarmament of criminal groups operating in various regions of Chiapas, whose presence, they say, has led to the forced recruitment of men and youths.
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas – Thousands of Catholics from the Diocese of the city made a pilgrimage to demand the disarmament and dismantling of the criminal groups that operate in Chiapas; they demanded justice for the murder of the priest Marcelo Perez and asked that there be no “media simulation” of peace.
The faithful who come from the seven regions located in the 48 municipalities that comprise the diocese demanded that the murder of Marcelo Perez, which occurred on October 20th, not go unpunished and that “the investigation be expedited to find the true material and intellectual culprits.”
This is the third march of the parishioners of the Highlands region, since MORENA member Eduardo Ramirez Aguilar assumed the governorship. During their walk of several kilometers through the city, they requested the disarmament of criminal groups that operate in various regions of Chiapas, whose presence they say has caused the forced recruitment of men and young people, and the forced displacement of thousands of families.
“Government, define your position: are you with the people or with crime,” “we want a solution, not simulation,” “cartels out of Chiapas,” “stop narcopolitics,” “stop forced displacement,” “stop death projects,” “justice for Father Marcelo” and “Father Marcelo lives, the struggle continues and continues,” were some of the slogans chanted by the pilgrims from 57 parishes in the diocese.
The pilgrimage to mark the end of the Jubilee Year of Samuel Ruiz, who died on January 23rd, 2011, and who celebrated his 65th anniversary of episcopal ordination this Saturday, January 25th, was accompanied by the apostolic nuncio in Mexico, Joseph Spiteri, and the bishops of the diocese, Rodrigo Aguilar Martinez and Luis Manuel Lopez Alfaro, who joined together in the last blocks and then went to celebrate mass next to the cathedral.
Reading a statement, the Pueblo Creyente group asked the Mexican State to publicly recognize the victims of forced displacement due to criminal violence that has affected Chiapas for three and a half years.
“It is a shame to recognize that abuses continue to be committed, dispossessing the native peoples of their lands; contaminating our common home; as a people of faith we are called to pray for those brothers and sisters of ours who are mistaken and we tell them that they cannot continue to live with their hands stained with blood. Ask God for forgiveness,” they said.
The faithful demanded that conditions be established for the return of the displaced, “As well as their comprehensive care, which includes the guarantee of a safe and permanent return, free of violence,” they said in a statement that was read in the central square.
“It is urgent that the government put a stop to organized crime,” the Catholics who arrived early from the 57 parishes implored.
For several years they have asked the three levels of government to work for the security of Chiapas. “Let them walk in the communities, as they did during the electoral campaigns, so that they truly know the needs that are experienced and attend to them promptly and effectively,” they said.
During the mass officiated by the apostolic nuncio, Pueblo Creyente recalled all the pastoral work carried out from 1960 to 2000 by Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia and the persecution he suffered for defending the rights of the indigenous people.
In his homily, the apostolic nuncio recalled the words of Pope Francis during his visit to San Cristobal de Las Casas on February 15th, 2016, regarding the injustices against indigenous peoples.
In a press conference, the Vicar of Justice and Peace, Miguel Montoya Moreno, reported that a commission is working on the issue of families who have been displaced from their communities to find out the exact number of people who left their homes, “although there are also people who belong to the diocese of Tuxtla, specifically from the Frailesca region,” he said.
He pointed out that, in the diocese, they are concerned because criminals are still armed in several municipalities, as is the case in this city of San Cristobal de Las Casas, and that children still do not have classes in schools. “In the conflict zones there is a lot of weaponry.”
“Too much use of weapons. We are not going to get very far: San Cristóbal de Las Casas. In this sense, we are concerned about the use of weapons. In the border area, we have information from our brothers who are in the communities, the children are not in classes, because there are no teachers in the communities,” the prelate revealed.
Original article by Gabriela Coutiño, El Proceso, January 25th, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.