Catholic Church in Mexico: Prayer for peace and for Marcelo Pérez, murdered priest

The Catholic Church called for a day of prayer and various activities that will include the ringing of bells, holy hours, masses and altars in honor of Father Marcelo Pérez, recently murdered in the Mexican state of Chiapas, as well as to ask for peace and the end of violence in the region.

The Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) called on the ecclesial community to “redouble our efforts for peace,” through a statementpublished this October 30. In that sense, he urged all the Catholic churches in the country to carry out activities in favor of this cause in the first days of November.

Scheduled activities

On November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, the Mexican bishops invited a Holy Hour to be held in all the temples of the country to pray for “the eternal rest of Father Marcelo and all victims of violence,” as well as for “peace in Chiapas, the strengthening of all affected communities” and “the consolation of families who suffer throughout the country.”

The Tzotzil community, an indigenous group located in the northwest and southwest of the city of San Cristóbal, where Father Pérez was originally from, will carry out a pilgrimage that will begin at 8:00 am (local time), followed by a Mass at 12:00 pm at the Cathedral of San Cristóbal Mártir. The bishops urged that the entire country join “spiritually” in these acts.

Likewise, they invited the dioceses to express their solidarity through gestures such as “the organization of simultaneous pilgrimages”, “the ringing of bells” at 8:00 am and the installation of “a space dedicated to peace”, which may include a lamp or candle, a portrait of Father Marcelo, offerings or “any other manifestation that reflects the ecclesial communion and spiritual accompaniment with the people of Chiapas.”

The bishops also encouraged that, from November 1 to 7, masses be offered for “peace in Chiapas and in all regions affected by violence,” “the eternal rest of Fr. Marcelo and all the victims of violence” and “priestly and religious vocations in the most needy areas.”

In addition, people were invited to pray the Holy Rosary in family and community, “remembering that the pain of a region is the pain of the entire Church.”

The Mexican bishops encouraged sharing all these acts on social networks with the hashtag #ChiapasNoEstaSolo, “as a testimony of our solidarity.”

These activities, explained the CEM, are carried out to “welcome the pain of all their children,” especially in Chiapas, but “without forgetting the clamor that rises from Culiacán, the towns of Guerrero and Michoacán, as well as from any corner of our country.” “homeland where violence disfigures the sacred dignity of human life.”