Today I write with my heart in pieces. Full of rage, of a courage and helplessness that no one can simply erase. Yesterday two very significant men died, two Jesuits who dedicated much of her life, if not all of her, to bringing hope to the most unprotected and marginal areas of this country. Days, months and years dedicated to work on foot, in the war zone, but the good one, the one that is invincible, the one that is forged with character, with the spirit of never giving up, with courage and the belief that the world can and must change. For many, perhaps the death of the priests Javier Campos Morales “El Gallo” and Joaquín César Mora Salazar “El padre Mora” may be insignificant, or two more names that are added to the terrible list of homicides that exceeds 2,500 monthly murders, and 91 daily deaths in our Mexico. And yes, how not to ask that this bloody numbness provoke us in many cases, evasion more than indignation. But on this occasion, for me and for many former students they are not indifferent names. I met Father “Mora”, he was my teacher in high school at the Tampico Cultural Institute. He was part of my training, and of many young people who had the fortune to come across him in this life. No, in fact their names cannot and should not be a figure, just as that of any human being who disappears for such petty and banal reasons at the hands of cowardice, impunity and the corruption of criminality in all its forms should not be. shapes.
The terrible news on Tuesday, where both priests were massacred by a criminal in the church of Urique, Chihuahua is an example of the impudence and impunity that has marked our society for many years. Things get worse every day. The arguments of crossfire, fragmentation of criminal groups or disputes over places for drug trafficking are exhausting us, but we cannot give up, much less resign ourselves to this reality.
Today injustice, hand in hand with the indifference of government institutions at all levels to take charge of the only thing that corresponds to them, which is to guarantee the safety of their citizens, is non-existent. In our days, criminals operate at all levels, extort money, collect flat fees, kill at will and at will, without anyone preventing it. Years ago, criminals still ran when they heard a siren from some authority that was approaching to arrest them, they hid, some even feared the consequences, but now, it doesn’t matter. Today criminals don’t run, why would they? No one persecutes them, no one confronts them, no one sets limits, because they can do whatever they want, kill, torture, threaten and dispose of the lives they want. On Tuesday it’s the turn of the priests, who join an endless list of horror, pain and helplessness.
How long will the institutions deign to generate counterweights and decide to govern? How long will they listen to the claims of a society in pain from so much loss and violence? We only demand justice, that our security and dignity be guaranteed to live and not to survive. Yes, we demand security, but we also talk about public policies, community projects, support networks, we talk about building a radical peace, far from hugs and not bullets, about the true transformation of Mexico, where there is commitment, empathy , solidarity and real actions beyond speeches that numb but do not specify, do not define an agenda, a project where we all have a decent space, safe with opportunities to grow and make this land a better place. Goodbye Father Mora, we will never forget the phrase that accompanied us in his classes: “Rabindranath Tagore: “I slept and dreamed that life was joy, I woke up and saw that life was service, I served and saw that service was joy”.
In January 2012, as a reminder, Father Mora wrote this to his students: “Message from Father Mora: For all those to whom I haven’t finished reading My Left Foot, tell them that I love them very much and that when I’m in the hidden corners of the Sierra, especially during the Christmas season, I pray for all of them. Do not forget that Jesus loves you”.
