Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 18, 2010 / 14:05 pm
Archbishop Jose Luis Chavez Botello of Antequera-Oaxaca has called on Mexicans to take concrete action to bring about reconciliation in the country and reverse the grave deterioration that is affecting society and endangering the future.
“It’s not enough to just not be bad or to just do the bare minimum with regard to our laws and customs. We must be good and put ourselves at the service of reconciliation, unity and the common good,” the archbishop said in a press release issued Nov. 15.
With gang and drug cartel violence on the rise around Mexico, Archbishop Chavez Botello stressed that the work of reconciliation requires effort at the most basic levels of society—in families, neighborhoods and communities—where inter-personal relationships can be healed and strengthened.
For Mexicans, he said, there is no other way forward than to unite against violence and to work for reconciliation.
The archbishop’s message comes amidst the growing wave of violence related to the drug trade in Mexico, where the daily tally of murders continues to rise. Since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006, some 26,000 have been killed.