.- Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Sanchez Martinez of Durango, Mexico denounced the wave of violence that has overcome the country and urged Mexicans to take responsibility for eradicating the problem.
In a pastoral letter, the bishop pointed to a recent statement by the Mexican bishops warning that “the growth of violence has become a sign of our times.” The bishops said that Mexicans must put themselves “at the service of the Kingdom, proclaimed by Jesus, who came that all may have life and have it in abundance.”
Bishop Sanchez Martinez denounced the violence of drug cartels, human trafficking, arms trade and all other forms of violence characterized “by cruelty, vengeance, power struggles and the intention to intimidate those considered to be rivals.”
Referring to drug trafficking and the arms trade, Bishop Sanchez Martinez warned that “without concerted action at the international level by the countries that are involved, the results of the efforts made in Mexico to eradicate this evil or debilitate its effects will be minimal.”
He urged Mexicans not to pass the blame on to others or to fall into the indifference of the past, but to act now to “eradicate this social evil.”
