Bishop Speaks Out Against Violence Spawned by Cult-Like Mexican Drug Cartel Joshua Partlow - The Washington Post
go to original December 18, 2013

Miguel Patiño Velázquez, the bishop of Apatzingán, Michoácan state, has spoken out against drug cartels. (atiempo.mx)

Their names hang from a wooden cross at the altar of a Catholic cathedral, the dead and missing of the diocese: Manuel Alaya. Octavio Contreras. Sergio Madrigal. This has been the bloodiest year since 1998 when it comes to drug violence in the Mexican state of Michoácan. For Miguel Patiño Velázquez, a 75-year-old bishop with a white frock and dark circles under his eyes, it is time to speak out.

The bishop has criticised drug gangs by name, supported village vigilantes and demanded that the government restore order. Where other church fathers have spoken in generic terms about the violence, the bishop has been bold, leading the Catholic church into the heart of the public debate. "Now is the moment to be one voice for our poor people, for our society," he said.

But his stance has also put the bishop in the crosshairs of his enemy – a drug mafia whose leader, Nazario Moreno González, has his own brand of fervent followers. Moreno is known variously as El Chayo and The Craziest One. He may or may not be dead. He is the cult-like figurehead of the Knights Templar, which claims to be the righteous defender of the peasantry against a corrupt government.

Read the rest at The Guardian

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