Intolerance in Chiapas and Oaxaca

La Jornada: (Original translation) It is not a new issue, but its resurgence is worrying. Cases of religious intolerance against evangelicals are occurring once again in Chiapas and Oaxaca, states with the highest portion of indigenous populations. Their persecutors are political and religious authorities. This is a dangerous partnership, because they do not value the freedom of belief and worship enacted by Benito Juárez, and indigenous man, on December 4, 1860.

According to the veteran reporter Isaín Mandujano, about one hundred families in the ejido (communal farm space) of Matamoros, in the municipality of Venustiano Carranza, were stripped of their land and animals and not allowed to bury their dead in the community cemetary because they publicly profess their religion to be other than that of Catholicism or Protestantism. He adds that about a thousand families’ lands were dispossessed and Catholics destroyed their fields and scattered their cattle (www.proceso.com.mx/?p=303135).

Those who have been stripped of their lands are indigenous Tzotil. They accuse Salomón Suárez Balcázar, president of the ejido, and local official Eduardo Belázquez Balcázar, of leading the hostilities against them. A delegation of the persecuted is in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the Chiapas capital, to demand the Secretariat for Religious Affairs fulfill its obligation to guarantee the free exercise of their beliefs by intervening and penalizing those who restrict that freedom. Will the authorities comply with those lawful obligations this time, or as in previous similar cases, lengthen the conflict?

In regards to Oaxaca, Elías Betanzos Luis, head of at least 400 congregations united by the Oaxaca Evangelical Unity Council, announced that 17 communities in the 415 municipalities which are governed by the system of laws and customs set up by the organization, have registered cases of serious religious intolerance (noted by Sofía Valdivia, Oaxaca a Diaro, 4/2).The Protestant leader explained that the higher incidences of intolerance against their coreligionists occurs in La Mixteca, the Sierra Norte, and now the coast.

The persecution against protestant indigenous populations is not widespread in the communities governed by custom. For the most part, as is clear from the testimony given by the leader of the Oaxaca Evangelical Unity Council, indigenous people of different faiths live together without aggression and respect the growing pluralization taking place in their villages. However, the number of cases in which evangelicals are harassed by threats of the closure of services, like water, or of expulsions should be more than enough to mobilize human rights organizations in order to demand respect for constitutional guarantees of those attacked. Or are the rights of indigenous evangelicals worth less?

It is time to abandon the habit of blaming the victims of persecution as the cause of their own suffering. The very conservative idea comfortably states that protestant Indians are the causes of their own misfortune, by converting to beliefs which differ from their traditional religion. This is deeply discriminatory and denies proper human rights to an important part of the Mexican population.

We can’t expect the conservative right to lift a finger to defend the freedom of belief for Protestant Indians. Their spirit and attitude of absolute submission to the will of the head of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI, of making religious minorities invisible was fully and shamelessly on display in the recent visit by the pope to our country. There is historical continuity there: yesterday they adamantly opposed the removal of catholicism as the official religion of the Mexican state. Today, now that they can’t reverse historical gains in the decolonization of Mexico, they push the government to return some of the privileges they held in the past.

The left would do well ideologically, culturally, and politically to resurrect the liberal leftists of the nineteenth century. They were strong advocates for freedom of religion. None more so than the native Ignacio Manuel Altamirano (born in Tixtla, Guerrero). He often wrote newspaper articles (beginning in 1869) documenting cases of intolerance against indigenous protestants.

Altamirano was present when San José de Gracia (Mesones 139) was first opened up to Protestant worship. On April 23, 1871, Manuel Aguas, a former Dominican turned evangelical Christian, preached there. According to his account, the 1500 seats were not enough to accommodate the crowd that gathered to see the event. He said that the audience was composed of all classes, ages, and sexes: men, women, artisans, many indigenous people; everyone was gathered in a sense of true brotherhood, in the spirit of the Gospel (El Federalista, April 24, 1871, p.3). Indigenous people have played a historic role in the development of Protestantism on Mexican soil.

Why is the left hedging the right of Indians to exercise freedom of conscience and stigmatizing them when they choose an option other than Roman Catholicism? Spanish original

By: Carlos Martinez Garcia

Translation by Michael Kane, Americas Program

Movement for Peace: Javier Sicilia travels to Rome to ask Pope to "embrace the body of Christ"

La Jornada: "The leader of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), Javier Sicilia, traveled to Rome last night to deliver to the Vatican a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, prompting him that, instead of allowing himself to be covered up by the "media show" that will assemble around him during his visit to the country, that he embrace "the suffering and murdered body of Christ" that now exists in Mexico and Central America.

At a press conference, the poet announced that he was making ​​the trip in a personal capacity, accompanied by four others, and he read the letter that Joseph Ratzinger will receive through the Vatican Secretary of Justice and Peace, Mario Toso.

"I come to Rome to say that Mexico has lived in suffering for five years. [...] Beloved Benedict, Mexico and Central America are now the abandoned body of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and crucified between two criminals," Sicilia says in his letter.

"When you arrive in Mexico, we want to remind you that, behind the media and political scenery, which they put up around you to erase the body of Christ, those who claim to represent the word of God and those who claim to represent the word of the people keep it kidnapped in the dock of the accused," he added.

For this reason, he requests that the head of the Vatican "embrace, before anyone else, the one, suffering body of Christ and and console it," because otherwise, if he cannot charge the Mexican Church to assume her role as mother, "hope in the deep communion of the resurrection will be destroyed."

Asked about his reasons for going to Ratzinger, when this public figure has not shown his commitment to the victims of pedophilia, the writer stressed that he is going in search of meeting him on a spiritual plane, regardless of their political positions.

"Sometimes political games prevent the Pope from speaking from his heart, and we forget that he is a head of state. We do not want to see the head of the Vatican State, but the Vicar of Christ on earth," insisted Sicilia...." Spanish original

Drug War: Pope to tackle drug war in Mexico, issues in Cuba

AFP: " From the war on drug cartels in Mexico to reviving faith in Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI will address a series of burning issues in his first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America beginning this week. On his 23rd visit abroad, the pontiff will tackle the declining number of Catholics in the region, the rise of rival religious movements such as Pentecostalists and what the church sees as the threat to family values.

The six-day programme, starting in Mexico on Friday, takes into account the frailty of the aged pope, who will conduct both political meetings and religious rites focusing on the marian figures of Mexico's Our Lady of Guadalupe and Cuba's Our lady of Charity." read more

Mexico Catholic Church: From communion wafers to sombreros, Mexico prepares for visit of Benedict XVI

The Washington Post: "Three hand-embroidered papal souvenir sombreros? Check. Official song? Check.

It takes a lot to prepare for the coming of the pope and the 3 million people the host Archdiocese of Leon says he is expected to draw. Facades must be spiffed; campgrounds must be sprayed for dengue-bearing mosquitoes.

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI, his first to Spanish-speaking Latin America, begins in just a week in Mexico’s central state of Guanajuato, where he will spend three days and give an outdoor Mass for some 300,000 people before heading to Cuba on March 26.

In the Bicentennial Park in nearby Silao, hammers and heavy equipment pound out the contours of a massive stage large enough for a Madonna concert. The religious order of the Capuchin Poor Clares in San Isidro is making 150,000 Frisbee-sized hosts for the Mass, though it won’t require vats of wine. While the masses eat bread, only the officiates will sip a mere 2.5 gallons (10 liters) of consecrated wine on stage." read more

Mexico Politics: Understanding Benedict XVI’s visit to Mexico

Before presidential elections, everything that happens in Mexico has electoral connotations. The upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI is far from being an exception. The following is our translation of the first part of an opinion piece from La Jornada.


La Jornada: The Pope is coming to Mexico, not just to pray and offer comfort and hope to a people wounded by daily violence and insecurity. There is an undeniable political dimension to the visit that those involved in his visit see to mask. Here we break down some of the key points of Benedict XVI’s first and probably only visit to Mexico.

1. It will be a pastoral and political visit.
The Pope’s visit comes in the middle of the electoral process; it’s no accident, much less an innocent coincidence. Interests are intertwined to create a win-win situation--the government of Felipe Calderon seek the pontifical blessing and legitimacy for his controversial strategy to combat crime to quell questions just as his term comes to an end, to be less vulnerable to electoral positions and speeches. The Catholic hierarchy, on the other hand, benefits from the visit: it will strengthen its attempt to politicize its morality campaigns, not only against abortion, new kinds of couples and defense of the family, but also regarding the debate over freedom of religion where it seeks more room for institutional intervention in society. Nor is an accident that the rush-- to the point of violating procedures—of legislators to pass Article 24 of the Constitution. This legislative fast-track proves there were behind-the-scenes deals. Why the hurry and what were the conditions of this agreement?

2. Electoral battle over Catholic political influence
Clearly, Josefina Vázquez Mota and the PAN would benefit due to their ideological discourses similar to the Pope’s. However, in the face of the political class’s pragmatism, one can expect anything. Peña Nieto’s PRI has been shown to be as conservative when it comes to religious matters as the PAN, even separating itself from its liberal, secular past. It could well claim part of the Pope’s doctrinal legacy. The political calculus dominates as candidates scramble to gain the limelight. In that vein, even Andrés Manuel López, with his “loving republic,” has requested a meeting with Benedict XVI. Is there a Catholic vote, and how much weight does the Catholic hierarchy have to influence voters? In any case, we hope that the politicians who are so excited by the Pope’s visit take note of the references between ethics and power, values and politics, which Benedict XVI will undoubtedly address... Spanish original

By Bernardo Barranco V.

Mexico Politics: Groups warn against attempts to dismantle the secular state and benefit one church

The Catholic Church was the wealthiest and one of the most powerful political forces in the colony of New Spain. From the civil War of Reform (1858-61) through the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), its disestablishment from being a state church--with the consequent reduction of its wealth and power--was a major and violently divisive political issue.

The Constitution of 1917 defined Mexico as as a secular state. Church property was taken by the government, worship outside churches and religious education in public schools were prohibited and the number of priests restricted. The Cristero War (1926-29) was a rebellion against this severe secularization. Subsequently, compromises were worked out and, over time, the Catholic Church was allowed to regain limited property and to function within its precincts.

Currently, a constitutional amendment is being considered in Congress to allow the church to officiate at public events and teach Catholicism in the public schools. The protest reported here is a response to this possible change.

La Jornada: "Around 3,000 members of Protestant religious groups, social organizations, citizens and intellectuals demonstrated (in the center of Mexico City) against the constitutional reform of Article 24, approved by the House of Representatives last December. They are arguing that constitutional change is the basis for dismantling the secular state and provides benefits to the Catholic hierarchy, rather than guaranteeing freedom of religion that it claims to defend.

The demonstrators presented the "Citizens' Declaration for a Secular Mexcio," signed by more than 800 evangelical religious organizations and 1,600 citizens and intellectuals, and addressed to the Senate, that began its regular session yesterday, to reject that amendment and approve amendments to Article 40 to strengthen the constitutional status of the secular Mexican state.

On 15 December, the House hurriedly passed a bill to amend the said article that opens the door to the Catholic Church to officiate at public ceremonies and disseminate media without permission from the Interior Ministry, and allows the instruction of religion in public schools.

... In the document--sponsored by the Civic Forum for a Secular Mexico, a civil organization formed as a result of the proposed reform--the protesters "reject any constitutional reform aimed at stipulating privileges, we regret that you use our civil liberties as a matter of political negotiation and that a constitutional reform such as this is done in a hurry, secretly and without transparency, and we defend the secular state." Spanish original

Drug War: Growing Catholic divide over Mexico drug war

CSMonitor.com: "Bishop José Raúl Vera López of Mexico has never shied away from controversy, defending unpopular minorities ranging from illegal migrants to prostitutes.

Now, as violence between Mexican drug traffickers and security forces pushes the drug war's five-year death toll over 45,000, the Roman Catholic bishop is taking on the government. He claims that corrupt officials are allying with criminals to skim drug profits and using the military to murder criminals who might reveal any collusion." read more