GUADALAJARA, Mexico, OCT. 1, 2003 (Zenit.org).- More than 60,000 Catholics joined forces to march «for peace and justice» in support of Guadalajara’s Cardinal Juan Sandoval lñiguez, who is under investigation by Mexico’s attorney general’s office.
Posters reading «I believe in the cardinal» were carried by the marchers on Sunday, and hundreds of banners expressed the affection and confidence of Guadalajara’s Catholics in their pastor, the city’s archdiocesan weekly newspaper reported. Catholics from other cities also joined the march.
The march ended at the cathedral. During the Mass, the archbishop said that he would not «cease his struggle for truth and justice,» and thanked Catholics for their support «in these difficult times.»
According to the organizers, members of the archdiocese’s Commission of Lay Organizations, the march had two objectives: «To express publicly unconditional support for our pastor, Cardinal Juan Sandoval,» and «to make very clear that, as Church, the lay faithful do not waive their demand for the truth until there is full clarification of the assassination of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo.» The latter was murdered in 1993.
«We believe that this absurd accusation against our pastor is only a ‘ploy’ to deflect attention from Cardinal Sandoval’s courageous insistence to know the truth about the crime against his predecessor,» the organizers said in a statement.
The cardinal’s supporters demand that the attorney general’s office observe impartiality and respect for the law. «Guilty ones must not be fabricated at random, nor the real delinquents exonerated,» the statement said.
Cardinal Sandoval and the others targeted in the money-laundering probe presented a complaint to the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights. He also filed a complaint with the National Commission on Human Rights, citing violations of his rights stemming from the investigation.
