Two Mexican cardinals, a bishop, and three priests have been convicted of constitutional violations for warning the public against the ruling party’s opposition to the values of human life and family, their advocacy of the LGBT agenda, and their promotion of socialism.
The convictions have caused alarm in Mexico regarding their implications for freedom of speech and the right to criticize the socialist ruling party “Morena,” which is accused of undermining Mexican civil liberties.
Among the convicted were the Cardinal Archbishop of Mexico City, Carlos Aguiar Retes, and the former archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez. The decision was handed down on November 18 by Mexico’s national Electoral Tribunal in response to a lawsuit filed by Mexico’s ruling socialist party, the Movement for Social Regeneration (MORENA).
One of the tribunal judges, Villafuerte Coello, denounced the accused clerics for encouraging Catholics “to pray and ask God to illuminate them when they vote,” in a video transmission of her statements during the proceedings.
“Of course that mustn’t be permitted,” said Cuello. “Votes aren’t celestial or spiritual things. This is about deciding votes with knowledge, with information, apart from pondering other things and this is just what must be respected, because celestial inspiration is not going to cause the best people to be in popularly elected positions. It’s logical….”
The primary target of the tribunal’s wrath was Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, who was convicted both of interfering in a national election as well as violating the constitution’s separation of Church and state.
According to the court, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez offended the constitution by stating, in a YouTube video of June 2 of this year, “There is much at stake in these elections.nIf those who are in power win, a dictatorship will come, that is, liberty will be lost, because we’re talking about a system that is communist, socialist, that enslaves. You just need to look at the countries that have falle into it.” He also warned that the economy of Mexico would be “very damaged . . . we’re going to be very poor like Venezuela, like Cuba….”
Sandoval has refused to apologize for his statements and doubled down in early October, repeating his call not to vote for pro-abortion politicians….
The above comes from a Dec. 7 story in Catholic World Report.
I don’t know the first thing about Mexican law but this all seems absurd and would never make it in the US
Gee I’m surprised. I figured you would be LGBT uber alles .
Yet.
The hell it wouldn’t. We’re only a few years (months?) behind. This is the Great Reset the social marxists are attempting to impose worldwide.
Look at Australia, where COVID concentration camps have been set up. Look at Europe, where people are being held in their homes.
It’s coming and it’s coming fast.
Have they been released yet? Are they still locked up in prison?
Have they been released from jail yet?
u do the crime u do the time
What was the said, “crime?” Speaking the Truth?
Sorry, “crime-time,” but “an unjust law is no law at all.”
God bless Cardinal Iniguez, and fortify him with courage to keep speaking out. No true Mexican wants to live in a copy of Venezuela.
Most people, Mexican nationals included – are just not fully aware of how anti-clerical and anti-Catholic the Mexican Government was, and continues to be.
I don’t agree, Fr. John. Ever since the days of the PRI governments—when priests were forbidden to wear any clerical clothing outside a church building and Catholic schools and charitable organizations were forbidden—Mexican voters knew full well what such parties intended for the Church. Most voters practiced their religion faithfully—but at the same time voted atheistic political parties into office which intended to marginalize it. THE VOTERS bear the blame for the predictable stifling of the Faith. The Mexican voters can’t have it both ways.
I wonder how many of our clerics would be brave enough to stand up to a completely totalitarian government? Many in our own country have developed rubber spines as they limbo under the low bar of social progressivism.
Pray for us. Many Roman and Eastern Catholics suffered persecution and martyrdom under Communism (and some still do). i pray and hope that I would have the grace to always speak the truth in love. Even if it meant being fined, labeled a criminal or going to jail (as has happened in a couple of other countries), “abortion kills children” and “marriage is one man and one woman.” Those truths cannot be changed by public opinion or clerical cowardice. And, remember these bishops and priests, and others, like Cardinal Pell, in your prayers.
Deacon Craig Anderson, the grace comes from God. Be faithful in everything.
One of the marks of a good person is showing respect and tact towards one’s superiors and leaders, especially spiritual ones. It shows that the person also has the conscience to show respect to others, such as one’s family, friends, co-workers, boss—even when there is disagreement. In light of that, the comments by “Dan” and “Silent” lack the proper respect, in fact they are impertinent: “well, are our spiritual leaders going to show the same spine as these Cardinals from Mexico?” There’s an impertinence, a lack of giving the benefit of the doubt, a kind of contempt in their words. I just wonder: if they are like this in public (albeit they’re anonymous), how do they act in front of bosses and co-workers and family members they disagree with? If this is how they treat our spiritual leaders—spiritual!—I shudder to think how they treat ordinary people.
Oh please jon, get off your high horse of judging others when it is clear you read into their statements meanings foreign to their words. Tedious, jon, just tedious. And I have considered myself a patient man, but you wear thin. Stop it jon, please stop it.
jon – I’ll be glad to tell you “how I act in front of bosses, co-workers, family members, I disagree with (sic)”: I have the courage of my convictions. I have an intellect and a developed conscience, all bestowed on me by Almighty God at my conception and nurtured by my devout parents and religious teachers. If my children or grandchildren wanted to seek an abortion, I would intervene with all my might to prevent them from this grave sin. If my boss stole money from the company, I would reproach him. If my priest gave a blessing to an abortionist, or lead his congregation astray by his sins, I would renounce him. It’s just that simple. I have the greatest respect for the good priests, and I definitely know who they are because they lead me to God.
You picked really extreme examples so that you could justify yourself. How do you act if your bosses, co-workers, family members that you disagree with are actually better than you are?
So, on the one hand “Dan” denies the plain and obvious impertinence of his questioning and in the other hand “Silent Observer” sets up a “straw man” while conveniently ignoring the main point, which is the disrespect and irreverence of his/her words. Interesting. I propose that a spiritual attitude behind the Mexican Tribunal’s severe judgment against the six members of Mexico’s Catholic clergy has a relationship to the kind of impertinence, irreverence, and disrespect that many in the commentariat here routinely display against Pope Francis and against bishops they don’t happen to agree with. In their conscience and heart, these commentators may not be far from the very things they themselves condemn. As Solzynitsyn has written: “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart.” Be warned.
jon, I have no interest in playing in the mud with you. But if you seek further play, may I suggest Fr. John Jimenez December 13, 2021 at 12:45 pm in the Cordileone thread? And please, I am not “Dan” but I am Dan, or Daniel. That is my real name. If you care to explain the quotation marks, I would be enlightened.
Priests do not have to stand up to a completely totalitarian government. That is not their job.
Their job is to provide the Sacraments to the faithful and to teach the Faith as best they can.
If they are too antagonistic to the regime, it will make things worse.
In 148 countries today, there are restrictions and, sometimes, persecution.
According to Aid to the Church in Need, 1 out of 8 Christians suffer persecution.
Pray for them please.
Of all the news articles I have read here at Cal Catholic, this is the most shocking and, sadly, illuminating. I knew in times past the hostility of the Mexican government to Christianity, but did not realize such extended to this day, and how deep this hostility is. We in this country take it for granted that “separation of church and state” does not mean the state may persecute the church when paths cross. There is something demonic in the socialist/communist version of government south of the border that the state will brook no rivals to its authoritarian rule and will accordingly stamp out all opposition to its dictates. And here in America we have those cheering the virtues of socialism, or shall we say, cheering the socialist idea of governance by an almighty autocratic state whose ruling philosophy is inimical to Christian virtue as is that of Mexico’s. If the result of the culture wars is a having such a government ensconced here, would our bishops follow the example of Cardinal Archbishop of Mexico City, Carlos Aguiar Retes, and the former archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez ?
“…because celestial inspiration is not going to cause the best people to be in popularly elected positions. It’s logical….” By “best people,” Villafuerte Coello means people like herself who scorn Christianity and Christian values. She recoils at the thought that people should consider anyone else for public office. And in this, her stance is most illogical.
Viva Cristeros!
God doesn’t do anything to help his people