Who is Clara Luz Flores Carrales, new Director of Religious Associations in Mexico?

Clara Luz Flores Carrales will be the new director of the General Directorate of Religious Associations of the Government of Mexico, under the presidency of Claudia Sheinbaum. The Catholic Church expressed its desire to collaborate with her to promote religious freedom and strengthen dialogue with the State.

On her social networks, Flores Carrales, who served as a federal representative for the state of Nuevo León, announced that he requested a license in charge this Thursday to assume the new responsibility, which depends on the Ministry of the Interior.

The direction by Flores Carrales aims to: among other thingsguarantee the exercise of religious freedom in the country and serve as an instrument of dialogue between the Federal Executive Branch and religious institutions in Mexico.

At 50 years old, Flores Carrales She has a degree in Legal Sciences from the Regiomontana University and has a master’s degree in Administrative Law from the University of Zaragoza, in Spain. In addition to her political career, she is a wife and mother.

Her career includes three terms as mayor of General Escobedo, Nuevo León, as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In 2021 he joined the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA)—founded by former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador—to run for governor of Nuevo León, although he did not achieve victory. Subsequently, she was appointed head of the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP).

Flores Carrales was at the center of a controversy during his 2021 government campaign, when his political rival, Adrián de la Garza Santos, released a video which showed her in a meeting with Keith Raniere, founder of the NXIVM sect, sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for crimes of sex trafficking and organized crime.

Although initially denied meeting NXIVM and Keith Raniere, days later publicly admitted that he had made a mistake in denying their bond.

“My mistake was not publicly accepting that moment in my life in which I sought help through a course,” he said on that occasion. However, he stated that “it is unfair that my rivals make me bear the crimes of an international criminal, who is already in jail today.”

The wish of the Catholic Church: Religious freedom and a more just society

In a statement released this October 18, the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) congratulated Flores Carrales on his appointment and expressed its willingness to work together on issues of common interest, such as “the promotion of religious freedom and the construction of a more just society and fraternal.”

The CEM expressed its desire that in this new administration “dialogue and cooperation between the Mexican State and the various religious associations of the country will be strengthened.” In addition, the Mexican bishops assured their prayers for Flores Carrales, entrusting their new responsibility to the Virgin of Guadalupe.