In June 2022, a man fleeing a drug gang took refuge inside a church in a remote area of northern Mexico. Armed men followed him into the church and killed him and two Jesuit priests who tried to intervene.
The incident has since strained relations between the Catholic Church and the president. Andres Manuel López ObradorChurch leaders have accused them of failing to curb the country's still-high violent crime rate.
López Obrador's presidency will end at the end of his term later this year, following elections to choose his successor.Popular leader endorsed former Mexico City mayor claudia sheinbaum A supporter of his Morena party, she is a heavy favorite in the June election.
This week, all three presidential candidates signed a document drafted by Mexico's Roman Catholic leadership called the “Pledge for Peace,” calling for new efforts to reduce the country's violent crime rate. But Sheinbaum rejected implicit criticism of López Obrador's failures on the issue, saying he disagreed with the church's assertion that Mexico was in a “crisis of serious violence.”
President López Obrador's security minister said in January that although the country's murder rate had decreased by 10.8% in 2023, Mexico had 29,675 murders last year, an average of 81 per day. reported. The challenge of violent crime and the delicate political dance surrounding it will continue.
