Religious freedom is not an excuse for slumbering faith

Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 9, 2004 / 22:00 pm

The Archbishop of Durango, Mexico, Hector Gonzalez Martinez, reminded the faithful this week that the religious freedom that has been achieved in Mexico should not be a pretext for a slumbering faith.

During a Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of Durango, the Archbishop recalled that religious freedom officially returned to Mexico twelve years ago, when President Carlos Salinas led reforms of Article 130 of the country’s constitution.

Archbishop Martinez underscored that the return of religious freedom has resulted in many Christians being asleep in their faith and apathetic towards their duties, forgetting that in the 1920s Mexicans who worshipped God were persecuted.

The Archbishop recalled that St. Paul calls Christians to spread the Gospel even though “perverse and evil men harass us, for not everyone accepts the faith.”

He also said nobody should desire to experience problems in the normal exercise of religious practice, but when there are no persecutions, “we grow lazy, we become comfortable, we just want to feel good about ourselves and we forget about God.”
 
During the month of November, the Archdiocese of Durango is calling on the faithful to respond “with generosity to the call of God,” journeying “towards holiness in the places where you live,” without forgetting that “intimate union with Christ is the result of successful evangelization.”