Mexican Bishops to Meet with Presidential Candidates EFE
go to original April 19, 2012

The president of the Bishops' Conference of Mexico, Carlos Aguiar Retes. (EFE)

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's 120 Catholic bishops are holding separate meetings this week with each of the four 2012 presidential candidates to ask them to maintain the rights and integrity of family and not to promote abortion or same-sex marriage.

The intention it to engage in a dialogue for 90 minutes with each of the hopefuls and listen to their proposals for governing, the Mexican bishops conference said in a communique.

The meetings will take place within the framework of the 93rd general assembly of the bishops, at which the main theme is The Family and the problems confronting it these days.

The candidate for the conservative governing National Action Party, or PAN, Josefina Vazquez Mota, met with the prelates Tuesday night.

According to the pre-determined agenda, the bishops on Wednesday will meet with the candidate of the leftist Progressive Movement coalition, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and the following day the standard-bearer of the centrist main opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, Enrique Peña Nieto.

On Friday, it will be the turn of Gabriel Quadri, the candidate of the small New Alliance Party.

The candidates will set forth their platforms, plans and expectations for governing Mexico and later the bishops will have the floor.

Issues such as the family, poverty, development, education, health care and human rights are priorities for the bishops, who will also analyze the results of a survey on what the different needs, experiences and realities of Mexican families are and how they are perceived.

Mexicans will vote on July 1 to choose the country's next president and more than 2,000 public officials, including 628 legislators and a number of state governors.

Polls show the PRI's Peña Nieto with a wide lead in the presidential race.

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!