Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez of
Guadalajara, Mexico has called on drug cartels to respect the holiday
season after a group of armed men interrupted an Our Lady of Guadalupe
celebration and killed at least 10 people.
The cardinal expressed his indignation over the latest episode of
violence during Mass on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12.
“These people have no shame. They fire off bullets at a group of people
attending a religious celebration. They ought to at least respect
sacred things … They are already committing serious enough crimes,” he
said.
On Dec. 10 armed men fired upon a group honoring Our Lady of
Guadalupe in Tecalitlan, located two hours from Guadalajara. At least 10
were killed and 30 injured.
Cardinal Sandoval urged the faithful to take extreme measures to
protect themselves from becoming victims of crime, such as “not leaving
home unless necessary.”
He also encouraged them to avoid becoming
victims of extortion by not giving out personal information over the
phone.
The cardinal said the reason for Mexico’s ills are because the
faithful “have not seriously accepted the message of Our Lady of
Guadalupe, which is to pay attention to her son and put our faith into
practice.
He added that Our Lady calls Catholics “to live the
commandments of the Lord, who is the King of justice and of peace.”
SIC: CNA/INT'L