ncies between the official clerical response to MexicoÆs problems and the actions of parish priests became commonplace.
The official Roman Catholic Church accepted the resumption of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Vatican that occurred in 1992. Simultaneously, members of the Mexican BishopsÆ Conference released a pastoral letter that spoke out against violence that referred to the involvement of elements of the military and the Mexican government in narco-trafficking (Jones, 1993). Though the Mexican Church hierarchy is largely conservative, Jones (1993) maintains that the same cannot be said of its pastoral clergy. In 1994, for example, Bishop Don Samuel Ruiz Garcia, whose apostolic See is located in the perpetually troubled Chiapas region, began to speak out on behalf of the peasants and the indigenous peoples and even began to praise the Zapatista uprising (MexicoÆs conscienceà, 1994). Bishop Ruiz has consistently raised his voice on behalf of indigenous peoples and the poor, arguing at times that only through organizations such as those of the Zapatistas will the most poor and oppressed Mexicans gain a voice in the governance of their country.
The position taken by Bishop Ruiz is seen by many as exemplifying the conflict that divides rich and poor Catholics as well as members of the Church hierarchy (Catholic fractures widenà, 1995). Ruiz served, until his recent retirement, as a mediator between the Mexican government and the rebel EZLN, or Zapatista National Liberation Army, that has taken over areas of the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The association between Bishop Ruiz and other members of the Catholic clergy and groups like the Zapatistas may well be evidence of the prevalence of liberation theology in selected sectors in both
...