Mexico's Roman Catholic Church is calling on the government of President Enrique Pena Nieto to make changes to its strategies for dealing with the crisis of violence and impunity that is shaking the country.
Cardinal Norberto Rivera told reporters yesterday that such changes "are absolutely necessary" and he emphasised that Pope Francisco is monitoring events in Mexico with concern, and not just the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers college in southern Guerrero state.
Mexican church leaders will meet with relatives of the missing students in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero today and will celebrate a Mass, according to church officials.
The case of the missing students has ignited indignation across Mexico and abroad over the fact that the students disappeared at the hands of a corrupt local government in September and that federal authorities took 10 days to intervene. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets, some calling for Pena Nieto to resign.
Rivera said Pena Nieto "will have to know how to confront this, with the same or different people," adding that changes in strategies and attitudes are needed.
He said impunity has allowed violence to grow in Mexico and that it is "very understandable" that civil society is demanding justice.
He noted that besides the missing students, there are more than 20,000 people across Mexico who have disappeared.
Meanwhile, Mexico's Catholic Multimedia Center released a report saying Mexico is the most dangerous country in Latin America for priests. The report said that since Pena Nieto took office, in December 2012, eight priests have been killed and that two more have been missing since 2013. It said there have been 520 threats, many death threats, and 1,520 cases of extortion against religious workers.
