Mexican bishops pray for peace after city officials shot

‘As shepherds of the people of God, we do not resign ourselves to living with fear nor with violent death.’

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference expressed its “profound consternation” at the assassination of two senior officials of the Mexico City government on Tuesday.

The victims were Ximena Guzmán, private secretary to Mexico City’s mayor Clara Brugada, and José Muñoz, an adviser to the city government.

“We join in the grief of their families, friends, and colleagues. To them, we express our closeness, prayers, and solidarity, asking God to grant them comfort, hope, and strength in the face of this painful loss,” the Mexican bishops said in a message following the assassinations.

The Mexico City government reported in a statement that the “direct attack” occurred in the Moderna neighbourhood of the Benito Juárez borough, approximately four miles south of Mexico City’s historic Zócalo, or main square.

“Personnel from the Mexico City Secretariat of Citizen Security and the attorney general’s office, both with support from the Mexican [federal] government, are already conducting the corresponding investigations to determine the motive for the attack. Additionally, video surveillance cameras in the area are being analysed to identify the probable perpetrators, who are known to have been traveling on a motorcycle,” the Mexico City government said.

“There will be no impunity; those responsible will be arrested and must face justice,” its statement said.

The Mexico City attorney general’s office said that “according to initial reports, the incident occurred while the victims were in the course of their daily routines, when the vehicle they were traveling in was intercepted by individuals who reportedly opened fire from a motorcycle”.

“Departmental, forensic, and investigative police personnel are carrying out the corresponding investigations to determine the facts of the case,” he said, indicating that they are analysing recordings “from video surveillance cameras in the area” and gathering information from witnesses “that will allow us to identify and locate the probable perpetrators”.

In their statement, the Mexican bishops said that the crime “joins a painful chain of violent events that, as we noted in our statement of 19 May, following the massacre of seven young people in Guanajuato, ‘is an alarming sign of the weakening of the social fabric, impunity, and the absence of peace in vast regions of our nation’”.

“As shepherds of the people of God, we do not resign ourselves to living with fear nor with violent death. We trust that, with the power of the Gospel and the collaboration of all, it is still possible to build a Mexico where life, justice, and peace flourish,” the bishops said.

“May Christ, our peace, sustain us in this dark moment. May Our Lady of Guadalupe, queen of peace, intercede for our nation.”

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