That was the message of Father Gregorio López Jerónimo when he made an afternoon stop at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Riverside on Jan. 26 to give a talk about the struggles in the Mexican state of Michoacán where he normally ministers. His willingness to speak out against drug cartels and political leaders in Mexico has earned him the moniker, “the priest in the bullet proof vest.” Father López is also known as Padre Goyo.
During a two-hour talk in the parish hall at OLPH that he gave in Spanish, Fr. López spoke of the demoralizing effect that the widespread murders and kidnappings are having on the people of Mexico. In Michoacán, alone, seven priests who have spoken against the drug violence and corruption have been murdered. But he said modern ills such as materialism, over reliance on technology and divorce have pulled people away from their faith and made them passive against the violence.
“We’ve lost our direction. We have to recuperate the values of our faith,” Fr. López said as he implored the people to speak out against unjust conditions in Mexico. “In your silence you are an accomplice.”
American Catholics should be urging the U.S. government to stop selling arms to Mexico because the guns find their way into the hands of the cartels, Fr. López asserted. He also pointed out that the United States is the primary marketplace for the drug use that fuels the trade. People of faith should work to turn people away from drugs, he said.
At the same time, he said he believed participants in the drug violence of Mexico are also children of God and should be brought to conversion and reconciliation. He told the story of a Mass that he celebrated in which activists and cartel members came together without conflict.
The Church, especially with the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, can be a catalyst for hope and change in these troubling times, Fr. López suggested. Until the onset of the violence in Mexico, Fr. López said he hadn’t really noticed the snake in most depictions of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
“The bad is there,” he told the crowd, referring to the snake in the image. “But it’s under the foot of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
Fr. López’s talk was the second event held in recent months at Our Lady of Perpetual Help to address the violence in Mexico. In November, a prayer vigil was held for the 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Mexico who were abducted by Mexican authorities and presumably murdered by cartel affiliates. The January 26 talk marked the four month anniversary of the abductions.
Father Miguel Ceja, parish pastor, said he was alerted by a priest friend from the Diocese of San Jose in mid January that Fr. López was on a speaking tour in the United States and would be willing to speak at OLPH. Posters on the 43 from Ayotzinapa hung behind Fr. López as he spoke and Fr. Ceja called it “a day of solidarity.”
“His goal is to make the efforts on an international level,” Fr. Ceja said of Fr. López . “He’s creating a niche.”