Catholic Church in Mexico denounces violence in the Sierra Tarahumara in Chihuahua, north of the country

After the murder of seven people in the Chihuahua mountains, in northern Mexico, the Catholic Church raised its voice to denounce the situation of violence that persists in the region and to request urgent action from the authorities.

According to the state Attorney General’s Officethe events occurred on October 26 in various municipalities of Guachochi. The authorities’ investigations indicate that some victims were traveling in their vehicles and others were walking in the area when “suddenly they were hit by gunfire in a confrontation between armed civilians.”

Violence in the region is not new. Guachochi is located in Sierra Tarahumara, a territory that has been the scene of multiple violent episodes, one of the most memorable being the murder of the Jesuit priests Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora, which occurred on June 20, 2022.

Because it is a mountainous area of ​​great natural wealth, it has become a strategic point for organized crime, which operates through illicit activities such as illegal logging and mining, as well as the cultivation of poppies that are used for the production of illegal drugs.

Shooting next to the Virgin of Guadalupe

The parish priest of the Guachochi Cathedral, headquarters of the Diocese of Tarahumara, Father Enrique Urzúa, denounced on October 16 on his social networks that the community had experienced a “night stunner by bullets”, after a confrontation between criminals.

He indicated that bullet marks were left from the episode in the roundabout where a monument of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located, a reflection, according to the priest, of the “experience that we have been living for a long time.”

On that occasion, Father Urzúa invited people to pray “for those who have taken the wrong path, so that they listen to the will of the one who gave them life, so that they look at the plan of good and justice that is in the hearts of everyone.”

“Our silence would be complicity”

Regarding the attack on October 26, the Bishop of Tarahumara, Mons. Juan Manuel González expressed his sadness for “the blood shed by sons and daughters of this land,” which he assured, “challenges us and hurts us in the depths of our hearts.”

In a statement shared on the same Sunday, the prelate stated that it is necessary to raise our voices “to repudiate all forms of violence that threaten the peace and dignity of our communities.”

He invited society not to get used to “death or to remain silent in the face of the pain that hits the Sierra Tarahumara again and again. Our silence would be complicity.”

To those who generate violence, he reminded them that “the life of each person belongs to God, and that every action that sows death destroys not only others, but also our own soul and the future of our people.”

On the other hand, he made an urgent call to the responsible authorities to “redouble their efforts in the protection of the civilian population, the search for justice and the reconstruction of peace in our region.”

Finally, he asked to work together with society so that “violence does not continue to take away the right to live in peace.”