Drug Trade and Church

As media attention heightens surrounding Mexico and drug trafficking, Roman Catholic leaders remark on the generosity of drug traffickers. According to the Dallas Morning News April 6, 2008 article,("Traffickers Financing Churches, Bishop Says") 'Texcoco Bishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, president of the Mexican Bishops Conference, said drug lords had financed public works in rural areas that are little served by the government and also had built churches. 'They are very generous with the people in their communities, and in general they install electricity, telecommunications, highways, roads, paid for by them,' Bishop Aguiar said after a meeting of bishops Friday, according to news reports. 'They are very generous, and many times they also build a church or a chapel.' The bishop stressed that 'I'm not justifying this; I'm simply saying what is evident.' He added that even the smallest drug distributor does 'immense' damage. Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera, the nation's highest-ranking churchman, said through a spokesman that the bishop's comments could be misconstrued as being soft on the traffickers."

The article adds, "More than 3,000 people have died in the drug fight since Felipe Calderon began his presidency 16 months ago with a military crackdown on the drug cartels that operate along the Mexico-Texas border and elsewhere in Mexico. Top officials in Mr. Calderon's conservative National Action Party, or PAN, said the church should not accept drug money.'Even if bad money is used for a good end, that is still wrong, and we should close the doors to drug traffickers in every way,' said Santiago Creel, coordinator for the PAN in the Mexican Senate."

The article notes, "Jorge Chabat, a political commentator who follows the drug fight, said Mr. Aguiar's 'revival' of the sensitive subject of narco-church relations comes at a bad time for Mr. Calderon, whose party is closely linked with the church. 'The PAN does not want to give the impression that drug traffickers are helping the Catholic Church and the government is not doing anything,' he said. 'That could be considered money laundering.' The topic is a recurring one, he said, with news reports of priests officiating at drug traffickers' weddings and other religious ceremonies in exchange for donations."