The The Challenges of the Catholic Church in Contexts of Violence: Religious Activism against Crime in Michoacán, Mexico

Abstract

In this article we present the results of a study on the role that the Catholic Church has played in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, in response to the violence produced by security policies and organized crime. Our ethnographic work with several priests in their communities and churches suggests that the clergy face great challenges in the
face of violence and the empowerment of armed actors. Fundamentally, it struggles in a constant tension between justice, truth and consolation that seems to be rethinking,
once again, the place of the church in society. A thorough analysis of the historical trajectory of the church and its responses to violence in highly conflictive spaces will
provide us with a vision of the actors involved in the construction of a possible peace.