Cardinal Arizmendi says he tried to convince criminal leader to leave violence

The Mexican cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, revealed in a column that recently met with a local criminal leader to persuade him to abandon his illicit activities.

“I insisted on speaking personally with the local leader of an armed group dedicated to extortion, with whom I had already briefly talked circumstantially, when I found it on the street,” he said in the column, shared with ACI Press

The cardinal explained that he asked for that meeting three times until he was finally received. During the meeting, he said, he invited him “to change his life, but ignored me.”

“They do not understand good advice from their parents and grandparents, except the Word of God; What makes them retract a little is military action against him, ”said Mons. Arizmendi.

This is not the first time that a similar meeting between a Catholic and criminal leader occurs. In February 2024, the four bishops of the Mexican State of Guerrero met with members of organized crime in an effort to seek peace in a region shaken by clashes and violence.

Although initially the objective of the bishops was not achieved, with the follow -up of Filiberto Velázquez Florencio, director of the Minerva Bello Human Rights Center, the groups finally reached a momentary “truce” so as not to affect citizens.

Doubts about the security strategy

During the six-year period of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (2018-2024), the Federal Government implemented the strategy “Hugs, not bullets”, which prioritized to address the causes of crime instead of fighting it with the use of force. However, this period concluded with a 199,621 homicide record, the highest figure in the modern history of the country.

With the arrival of Claudia Sheinbaum to the Presidency, doubts persist on whether he will continue with the same strategy. In the 135 days after its administration, They have registered 10,318 homicides, which maintains the issue of security as one of the country’s main concerns.

Given this panorama, Cardinal Arizmendi said that “a change in the current federal government strategy is already perceived, which hopefully has better results, since that of the previous six -year term was counterproductive.”

Although he clarified that the Catholic Church does not advocate a war, he warned that “if the army does not act to contain them, there is no one to stop them. The population is innerme before the powerful weapons of these groups and only a stronger action of the State can suppress them. “

He ended with a call to prayer so that the authorities “find a way to control and avoid these damages to the population … and, if possible, let’s talk about this with the corresponding authorities, so that they assume their duty to take care of the town”.