Mons. Enrique Díaz Díaz, Bishop of the Diocese of Irapuato, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, expressed his concern about two aspects of violence in Mexico: “the violence that affects children and the violence that children carry out.”
He addressed this issue after an armed attack that claimed the lives of young people. According to the local media The Sun of MexicoOn the night of January 3, in the Álvaro Obregón neighborhood — known as “La Perdida” — armed individuals aboard a motorcycle shot more than 20 times at a group of teenagers.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
As a result, two of them died and three more were injured. The victims, between 14 and 17 years old, were playing in the street at the time of the attack.
In one news conference held on January 5, on the occasion of the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord, also known as Three Kings’ Day – a date on which in Mexico, as well as in Spain and other countries, gifts are given to children – Mons Díaz Díaz deeply regretted this tragic event, pointing out that the murdered minors are “collateral victims of the damage of this violence that affects us all.”
The prelate also expressed his concern about the phenomenon of minors who join the ranks of organized crime, who, although they are children, “are already given over to violence, who have been co-opted by crime, who transform them into hawks (people hired to monitor the police), hitmen too.”
Bishop Díaz Díaz shared his experience, pointing out that during his pastoral visits to prisons in his diocese he has observed that many young people of 19 or 20 years old “already have a long history of homicides.”
The bishop insisted that minors are not only victims of violence, but also become actors in it, which “must continue to seriously question this path we are taking.”
“What is the authority doing? Because it is something that is spreading stronger. And, what are each of us doing to resolve the violence?” questioned the bishop.
He pointed out that, although it is the responsibility of the authorities to address this situation, it also falls on the “parents, but also the school, but also us as the Catholic Church.”
Diego López Colin
I am a graduate of Journalism at the Carlos Septién García School with experience in religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I have been writing for digital media and, since 2018, I have reported the most important news about Catholic events in Mexico for the EWTN news channel. ACI Prensa correspondent in Mexico since 2023.