Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Morelia (Agenzia Fides) – The Archbishop of Morelia, His Exc. Mgr. Alberto Suárez Inda, has urged people "to take shelter and be careful about the situation of insecurity that prevails in urban areas" following the clashes of different organized crime groups with self-defense groups. The note sent to Fides Agency reports the words expressed by the Archbishop during a break at the IX Diocesan Pastoral Assembly, in progress at the minor Seminary in Morelia.
The Archbishop also said: "After the public statements made by the Bishop of Apatzingán, Mgr. Miguel Patiño, on the situation of violence that the area suffers (see Fides 05/11/2013), I was approached by the Governor and I expressed the people's feelings, I asked for his intervention... I believe that little by little the authorities will truly seek a solution ... If we are able to build trust in families, we can, therefore, reverse this movement of violence that is sadly present in almost all the cities of Michoacán".
For five consecutive days now clashes between self-defense groups and citizen criminal gang members of the Cavalieri Templari have occurred in the Tierra Caliente. From unofficial reports we learn that the village self-defense groups have recorded eight wounded and two deaths, while we still do not know the number of victims among the Templari. The reason for these clashes, more and more aggressive and violent, was caused by the coalition of citizen self-defense groups of Tepalcatepec with those of Tacámbaro to permanently expel the Templari.
The situation is serious because, due to these clashes, many people who do not belong to any armed group were killed. In the past three weeks there have been 3 deaths in Aguililla, 9 in Pareo and one in Zirimbo, besides women abducted and murdered in Tancitaro. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 21/11/2013)
