Thirty-eight prelates traveled to the Vatican to meet with the Supreme Pontiff for the purpose of discussing issues related to the migration crisis, insecurity, and human rights violations plaguing the country, without forgetting what happened in Ciudad Juárez, where on 27 March 40 migrants died in a detention center. They also touched on the issue of drug violence, “of which the Pope is well informed,” said Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, auxiliary bishop of Mexico City.
MEXICO CITY (Process).- On Friday June 2, Pope Francis – who this week underwent delicate surgery – met with a group of 38 Mexican bishops who traveled to Rome. The meeting, which followed a series of meetings with other Vatican officials, took place behind closed doors, lasted more than two hours and took place in the morning inside Vatican City.
The bishops came in three groups to be attended by the Supreme Pontiff, of which two have already been received: the first at the end of April and the beginning of May, the second from May 27 to June 3, and the third group remains to be attended. , who is scheduled to have a meeting with the Pope in the last days of June and beginning of July.
The Argentine pontiff has already attended to his representatives in Mexico, in a conversation in which the migratory crisis, violence and human rights violations that plague the country slipped in on more than one occasion.
One of the most significant issues was the case of the disappearance of the 43 normalistas from Ayotzinapa, one of the most painful in recent Mexican history. The Pope, who has already addressed the issue in the past, “cited” the case and asked the bishops to collaborate “at least to see where they are, what happened. That is bringing out the truth. He encouraged us to do this, ”explained Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, auxiliary bishop of Mexico City and a member of the Center for Accompaniment, Recovery and Integral Development (Cardi).
The Pope is already aware of the situation of violence and insecurity in Mexico, and has made a direct call for the Church in Mexico to become more committed to building peace.
Francisco insisted on the importance of “listening to the population, to the families, especially to those who suffer. Because today there are also mothers who are looking for and then they are found murdered,” said Acero, who stressed that the phenomenon of forced disappearances was also an issue that was discussed, along with the migration crisis that the country is experiencing.
For this reason, the bishops told him that on June 18 a mass will be held for all the forced disappearances in the Basilica of Mexico City with relatives of the disappeared persons.
immigration emergency
In line with this, Pope Francis and the bishops also spoke about what happened in Ciudad Juárez, the town where 40 migrants died in a detention center on March 27. The reason is that, “with everything that happened in Juárez, they no longer want to go to government houses and the religious (centers) are overwhelmed,” Acero pointed out.
The reality is that “we are in a migratory emergency situation in Mexico City and throughout the country. People are arriving, mainly from Venezuela and Haiti, in waves, ”he added in a conversation with Proceso.
