He's asked me on various occasions for this, and the church is responding." 30, 2018.Ĭurrent President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the nuncio said, has sent letters to the pope asking for assistance with "the struggle against crime and violence in Mexico. The visit also cast attention on the shocking violence of Mexico's seemingly intractable problems with organized crime and the government's preference to downplay what's occurring.Ĭoppola said functionaries in the Foreign Relations Secretariat asked, "Please don't speak so much about violence in Mexico, it damages tourism."Ī spokesman for the Foreign Relations Secretariat said the request would have occurred in the administration of former President Enrique Peña Nieto, who left office Nov. The nuncio said he shared news of the beheadings on social media and had his account temporarily suspended. The situation became so severe in Aguililla that eight bodies were found decapitated earlier in April and one cartel used a drone to drop explosives on the police. The nuncio's visit to Aguililla offered a brief respite from the violence gripping the region, which is being disputed by rival criminal organizations: United Cartels and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. "The church must be at the side of the people, not fleeing." My visit is to make people feel the church is close, that they're not alone and will not be abandoned," the nuncio said in Aguililla, where he led a procession and celebrated Mass April 23 for the people. "We in the church cannot get involved in war, but we can tend to the wounded, to the people. The ambassador, or nuncio, also wanted to raise awareness of the situation in Aguililla, a town in western Michoacán state, where drug cartels have battled each other and blocked highways, leaving residents unable to travel freely and causing shortages of everything from food to fuel. Plants vs.Archbishop Franco Coppola, papal ambassador to Mexico, recently traveled to a town besieged by warring drug cartels to reiterate the church's commitment to serving populations suffering violence.
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