Bishops denounce disruption at Mexico cathedral on Easter

Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 26, 2011 / 11:57 am

The Mexican bishops' conference condemned a “violent disruption” that took place during Easter Mass in Mexico City.

They denounced the incident in a message released April 25. This act is an attack on the faith of the majority of Mexicans and exacerbates the “climate of uncertainty, violence and lack of security that has become a scourge for Mexico,” the bishops stated.

The disruption took place Easter Sunday at the Cathedral of Mexico City. Seven people interrupted Mass by shouting epithets against the Church and destroying a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Just before the gospel reading, the individuals stormed into the cathedral with megaphones and began shouting insults against the Church and Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City. They were quickly detained by security guards.

The secretary general of the bishops’ conference, Bishop Victor Rodriguez Gomez, published a statement the next day expressing solidarity with Cardinal Rivera and lamenting the “unfortunate events” that took place.

He said the bishops are concerned about the growing frequency of disruptions that are occurring, especially at Mexico City's cathedral. He noted that 29 similar incidents have taken place there in recent months.

Civil authorities “have yet to enact effective measures for preventing such incidents,” he added.

Mexico City’s attorney general, Miguel Angel Mancera, said April 25 that the seven people arrested for the disruption were released after investigators determined that the property they destroyed did not belong to the church.  “They were investigated for property damage but it was determined that the statue of the Virgin Mary that was destroyed was one they had carried into the cathedral themselves,” he told reporters.

Mancera said all seven were members of a religious sect known as “The House of God.”