ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 10, 2023 / 19:00 pm
A Mexican bishop from one of the regions hardest hit by drug trafficking violence recently made a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe basilica in Mexico City and at the feet of the Virgin implored peace.
Cristóbal Ascencio García, the bishop of Apatzingán located in the Mexican state of Michoacán, led the annual diocesan pilgrimage to the Guadalupe basilica on Nov. 8 with the theme “Pilgrims who cry out for peace.” Along with the more than 600 pilgrims who accompanied him, the prelate prayed to God that his cry for peace would reach “up to heaven.”
Apatzingán, a city located about 115 miles southwest of Morelia, the capital of the state of Michoacán, is one of the hardest hit by drug trafficking violence in the region, whose control is disputed by groups such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the Family Michoacana, and the Knights Templar.
Zamora, the second-most violent city in the world in 2022 according to the ranking prepared by the Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, is located about 100 miles north of Apatzingán. Uruapan, which is ranked seventh, is located about 65 miles to the northeast. The city of Morelia is in 33rd place.