A bishop in Mexico has added his voice to appeals for peace between feuding drug gangs over Christmas.

Poet-turned-peace activist Javier Sicilia has pleaded with Mexico’s drug cartels to observe a “ceasefire” on December 24 and 25 in order to “reflect on what they are doing to the country”.

Sicilia became a full time peace campaigner after his 24-year-old son, Juan Francisco, was murdered along with six other men by the Pacifico Sur drug cartel in Morelos in March.

Now the Bishop of Cuernavaca in Morelos, Mgr Alfonso Cortés Contreras, has joined in the calls for a truce.

According to Vanguardia newspaper, he said: “I appeal to them as brothers and in the name of God to understand that this is not the way of goodness, that this is not the way of peace, that this is not the way of life as brothers and sisters, and as human beings.”

Figures from the Mexican government out in January put the number of people killed in gang-related violence at 34,612 since 2006. That figure is believed to have risen to around 40,000 over the course of the year.

Mgr Cortes said the violence was causing a lot of pain and distress to Mexicans, but added that the perpetrators were acting “more through ignorance than malice”.

“We must be messengers of peace,” he said.

“We hope that this Christmas will be a time of peace and love for all.”