DIOCESE OF SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS
ONE YEAR AFTER THE COWARDLY MURDER OF JTATIC, MARCELO PÉREZ PÉREZ,
PROPHET FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
“What I seek is peace. What I seek is peace for the people, and peace is greater than death, threats, and my life.” (Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez)
TO ALL BELIEVING PEOPLE
TO BELIEVERS FROM THE DIFFERENT DIOCESES
TO CIVIL SOCIETY
TO PEOPLE OF OTHER RELIGIOUS FAITHS
TO MEN AND WOMEN OF GOOD WILL
TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Sisters and brothers, family members of our beloved jTatic Marcelo, may he rest in peace, receive our fraternal greetings.
We are deeply grateful to jTatic Marcelo’s family for having accompanied him on his journey with the Word of God, which led him to become a prophet and martyr for peace. He was a priest of faith who encouraged the People of God to denounce injustice and was never afraid to do so, expressing this in his homilies, from which we recall him saying, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is a gain” (cf. St. Paul to the Philippians 1:21). Furthermore, he sowed seeds of hope. The power structure that represses people tried to eliminate them, but those seeds multiply because today Father Marcelo lives in the hearts of each one of us. He freely gave his life for peace.
Do not be discouraged, brothers and sisters, family members of jTatic Marcelo.
On this first anniversary of the cowardly murder of Father Marcelo, we continue to live in dark times, which extend into the reality of wars, genocides, land dispossession, and the migration of thousands of people.
Therefore, we also shout with millions of human beings: STOP THE GENOCIDE IN GAZA! May the leaders of all countries demand and stop this barbarity, a shame for humanity.
Despite the “Security Strategy” implemented by the Federal and State Governments, our country remains mired in violence: some of our people continue to suffer from murders, disappearances, kidnappings, drug traffickers’ entry into communities, forced displacement due to criminal violence, and espionage. Drug cultivation in communities, drug dealing, and drug trafficking in clandestine locations. There has also been an increase in alcohol sales in stores with permits from the authorities, as well as in clandestine locations, despite prohibitions imposed by community agreements or by some municipal authorities. There are also clandestine laboratories for processing and manufacturing drugs, some of which have been dismantled by the Army.
In addition, it has been seen that some members of the State security forces continue to engage in repressive practices such as extortion, beatings, and intimidation of community members to instill fear and seek control of the territory. This is also accompanied by collusion with some authorities.
Amid so much violence, we want to express our cry for freedom for our brothers and sisters who are unjustly imprisoned! Because they raised their voices to demand justice from a power dominated by organized crime, which oppresses the people and enjoys impunity, enforcing its mandates by force of arms, taking the lives of people who seek peace.
For this reason, there are divisions in the communities based on political parties, social programs that don’t reach all those in need, religions, and sometimes even within the same public officials.
There are imprisonments and torture of innocent people, and serious human rights violations, as in the case of the five brothers imprisoned at San Juan Cancuc. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued a recommendation to the Mexican government stating that, given the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to immediately release the five prisoners at San Juan Cancuc and grant them the right to compensation and other forms of reparation, within a maximum of six months, the deadline for this October.
We also join our voices with the organizations, collectives, and individuals who, since March of this year, have requested a review of the case of catechist Brother Pedro Cortés López and Diego Mendoza Cruz, who were sentenced to 110 years in prison. They also filed a complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions. (La Jornada newspaper, March 26th, 2025). It is unacceptable that the murderer of Father Marcelo, a priest and human rights defender, was only given 20 years in prison.
Facing a human reality that covets everything around it, along with savage capitalism, which deprives people of their land and territory, without realizing that, as indigenous peoples, we have a relationship of harmony and respect for life and nature.
Therefore, we denounce the imposition of the San Cristóbal-Palenque highway, as there is no genuine consultation with indigenous peoples and their other rights, nor is there any consideration of the grave damage it will cause to Mother Earth and the species that live on her.
No more political corruption, no more collusion with powerful groups and organized crime. We need justice, equality, democracy. We need freedom and sovereignty to build peace. Because we are not the owners of this world.
To those who fight for peace and justice.
Let us trust in the word of the people and build paths together so that no one walks alone. It is a time to join our voices.
To young people
Today’s youth waste their lives in technology, in vices, and in momentary happiness. Therefore, we invite young people to begin to live the true joy of what God has given us. Do not be afraid to be young prophets. Do not silence the voice of your heart that wants to seek peace. Youth is about taking advantage of being useful and facing life’s challenges; do not be afraid to do so. May young people not go unnoticed in our society, but rather, with their actions, transform the world and society. Jesus also calls young people to seek him and follow him in the great adventure of life, driven by faith.
Today is the day, dare to follow him, tomorrow may be too late!
After one year of impunity and injustice following the cowardly murder of Father Marcelo, we denounce and demand that the relevant authorities conduct a thorough investigation to identify and punish the masterminds responsible for the murder of JTatic Marcelo.
The true justice we so desperately desire has not been served because, to date, the true motive for this crime has not been investigated. The masterminds continue to enjoy impunity.
We demand that all three levels of government bring justice to the murderers of other martyrs killed in our Diocese: from Nueva Morelia, Chicomuselo: Ignacio, Isidra, Teresita de Jesús, Rosalinda, Yojari Belén, Dolores, Alfonso, Azael, Urbano, Brandi, and Joel; from Nuevo Israelita: Simón Pedro; and the martyrs of Acteal, among others.
Our martyrs, with their lives, have given strength to our journey as a Diocese. They are no longer physically with us, but their spirit, their dedication, and their teachings of walking as prophets and shepherds will never end.
Stop the false peace!
Stop the murders!
Stop the forced displacements due to criminal violence!
Stop narcopolitics!
Stop the recruitment of young people!
Stop the threats and harassment of human rights defenders!
Stop the repression of indigenous peoples who fight for their rights!
Stop the destruction of Mother Earth!
Let us walk together in the light of the Lord, building paths of peace.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied! (Mt 5:6)
In the Jubilee Year of Hope
Believing People of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas
San Andrés Sakamch’en de los pobres, Chiapas, Mexico; October 20th, 2025.
Original statement at Frayba, October 20th, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.