Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 6, 2009 / 11:33 am
The Bishops of Mexico announced this week they would be praying for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Holy Spirit that drug traffickers in the country would abandon violence, after police interrupted a Mass this week in order to capture a renowned drug lord.
“We continue to implore the Holy Spirit to move our hearts in these times in which doubt and uncertainty are devastating our country. Sustained by our faith, we have the firm hope of building a Mexico of peace, justice and harmony,” the bishops’ conference said in a statement.
They also expressed their “support and solidarity” for Bishop Miguel Patino Velazquez of Apatzingan and for the priests and faithful of his diocese, “which has suffered the consequences of drug trafficking violence in that region.”
The Diocese of Apatzingan was the scene of a police raid on a Catholic church during a Mass celebrating the fifteenth birthday for the daughter of Miguel Angel Beraza, who is one of the biggest leaders of the Michoacan drug cartel.