CPTnet
May 29, 1998
CPT Delegation Meets with Christian Leaders Working to End Religious
Tensions

CHIAPAS, MEXICO -- The low-intensity war in Chiapas has increased
tensions between Protestants and Catholics. Although Mexican military
and paramilitary forces often try to pit these groups against each
other, members of both groups are working at ecumenical dialogue and
cooperation. On May 28, a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation
to this southern Mexican state visited the Ecumenical Bible School in
San Cristobal de las Casas.

The school offers courses to both Protestant and Catholic indigenous
people in biblical and pastoral education and in topics related to their
reality in Chiapas, such as traditional medicine, indigenous theology,
conflict resolution, and human rights. Catholic and Protestant leaders,
including indigenous people, teach and administer at the school. A
representative of SIPAZ (International Service for Peace) also works
with the school. CPT is a member of the SIPAZ coalition. Seven
delegation members met with three workers at the school--Presbyterian
Guadalupe Bolon Santiz, Mennonite Central Committee worker Eduardo
Rodriguez and Baptist Natanael Navarro.

The first course began December 6, 1997, and weekend courses run this
summer. Rodriguez said that the project began with the hope of
fostering better understanding between Catholics and Protestants.

Low-intensity war in Chiapas manifests itself through the military and
paramilitary groups terrorizing indigenous civilians via threats, the
burning of homes, arbitrary arrests, the rape of women and other ways of
intimidating religious leaders and opposition. The government claims
the conflict is local, and plays up the religious aspect. The state
uses the Evangelical (i.e. Protestant) sector as a tool in the low
intensity war, said Rodriguez. The government accuses the Catholic
Church in Chiapas of supporting opposition groups in Chiapas. The
government and military encourage the fear among Evangelicals that
unless they side with the government, they will lose their lands and
homes. The military often arms and trains paramilitary groups.

Religious tensions have increased, but the conflict is not essentially a
religious one. Both Catholics and Protestants belong to opposition
groups which are struggling to achieve a true democracy with human
rights, and members of both groups also belong to the ruling PRI
(Institutional Revolutionary Party).

Navarro said that through the school Christian leaders wanted to break
out of the pattern, to which the Protestants are especially prone, of
practicing only the spiritual aspects of faith, such as praying and
worship, while ignoring the political realities of Chiapas. He added
that the Bible teaches of a vertical relationship with God, but that it
also teaches of the horizontal relationship humans have with other
people. He said that at the school they want to learn about God,
without differences between social classes or denominations.

CPT delegation members include Mennonites and members of the Church of
the Brethren from California, Indiana, Kansas, New York, Ohio, and
Pennsylvania.