Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 6, 2007 / 10:15 am
The president of the College of Catholic Lawyers in Mexico, Armando Martinez, warned this week that the archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, is again facing threats to his personal safety as the same protesters who sought to harm him last October are taking advantage of a decrease in the number of security guards that are protecting the Cathedral.
“For the first few days we had ten or fifteen guards at the entrance. Now we have no more than two,” Martinez said, adding, “We continue to rightly fear for the cardinal’s safety.”
He denounced what he called the “complacency” of city officials towards posters attacking the cardinal that have been pasted to the cathedral walls. “The Cathedral is being held hostage again,” Martinez stated.
He blamed secretary of communications of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), Gerardo Fernandez Norona, for the new attacks on the cardinal. “We blame Mr. Fernandez Norona for this new campaign of hate,” he said.
On October 7 a group of protesters attacked the vehicle in which Cardinal Rivera was riding as he was leaving the Cathedral after Sunday Mass. City officials responded by providing increased security for the cardinal.