Michoacan priest tells parishioners during Sunday mass “we have to defend ourselves”

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Even for the violence-wracked Mexican state of Michoacan, it was surprising when a priest called from the pulpit for parishioners to arm themselves against warring drug gangs.

“The cartel gunmen come, they take the livestock, they screw your wife and daughter, and you do nothing,” the Rev. Alfredo Gallegos said in a sermon. ”Well, get yourself a gun, the government can go to hell.”

“We have to defend our lives,” Gallegos continued.

Mexican law forbids most civilians from owning almost all firearms, except for extremely-low caliber hunting rifles or shotguns.

But Michoacan has a history of armed civilian “self defense” vigilante militia movements from 2013 and 2014. Back then vigilantes managed to chase the dominant Knights Templar cartel out, but rival cartels like the Viagras and the Jalisco cartel have moved in. Kidnappings, killings and shootings have prompted thousands to flee their homes.

Gallegos, a parish priest better known as “Father Pistolas” for his habit of carrying a gun, was backed by some fellow Roman Catholic clergy Friday.

Father Alfredo Gallegos, a parish priest better known as “Father Pistolas”

The Rev. Gregorio López, a priest known for once wearing a flak vest while celebrating Mass, has spent the last few years running shelters for people who have fled their homes due to violence. He has also tried to help get asylum or refugee status for Michoacan residents in the United States.

López called Gallegos’ sermon “the cry of the people.”

“He is trying to be the voice of the people, and that is the feeling of the community, that they should be armed,” said López, who served as a sort of spiritual adviser for some of the self-defense groups in 2014.

The Rev. Gilberto Vergara, who has a parish in Aguililla — a mountain town that has been fought over repeatedly by warring cartels and whose residents were cut off from the outside world for months — took a more cautious view.

“This thing about civilians taking up arms never ends well,” Vergara said.

Still, he was circumspect about Gallegos’ preaching style.

Source: OEM

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