Mexican Church Takes a Closer Look at Donors

PACHUCA, Mexico — The large orange chapel here, with its towering cross, would be just another Roman Catholic church if not for a bronze plaque announcing that it was “donated by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano” — better known as “the executioner,” commander of the ruthless crime syndicate called the Zetas.

The nameplate goes on to quote Psalm 143: “Lord, hear my prayer, answer my plea.” But Mexican Catholics are the ones struggling with how to respond.

Ever since the chapel’s financing spawned a government investigation four months ago, the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico has been trying to confront its historic ties to drug traffickers. Long dependent on gifts, but often less than discriminating about where they come from, the church is grappling with its role as thousands die in turf wars among rich, and sometimes generous, criminals.

“The chapel put the entire church in Mexico on alert,” said the Rev. Hugo Valdemar, a spokesman for the country’s largest archdiocese, in Mexico City. “As a result, our public posture has changed, and become much tougher.”

The church has indeed gone further than before, with public pledges to reject “narcolimosnas,” or “narco alms,” and priests linked to traffickers. A handful of outspoken bishops have also stepped up condemnations of both the cartels and the government’s militaristic efforts to stop them.

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