More steps should be taken to bring attention to violence against Catholic priests
In May, an Augustinian priest named Javier García Villafaña was discovered shot to death in his car on a remote Mexican highway. This tragic incident marked the ninth murder of a member of the clergy during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term. The recent attack highlights the ongoing violence and instability in Mexico, as the government struggles to effectively address the pervasive criminal activity.
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According to a classified study by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2018, approximately 20 percent of Mexico is under the control of drug-trafficking organizations, as reported by The Washington Post, citing U.S. officials. Former Attorney General William Barr, in a Wall Street Journal article from March, emphasized that Mexican cartels utilize bribery and terror tactics to establish themselves as de facto states within the country, exerting control over large areas of Mexico.
The U.S. Department of State has issued travel warnings for Americans visiting Mexico, including a Level 4 advisory of “Do Not Travel” for six states in the country. The State Department acknowledges that Mexico experiences widespread and frequent violent crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery. Earlier this year, a distressing incident occurred where four Americans were violently abducted, resulting in the deaths of two individuals, after inadvertently getting caught in the crossfire of rival cartel violence during a road trip.
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Tragically, priests in Mexico face these dangers as a daily reality. Father Omar Sotelo, director of the Catholic Multimedia Center, stated that Mexico has been the most perilous country in Latin America for priests to carry out their ministry for over a decade. Additionally, a report by Vatican Fides revealed that in 2022, the only country surpassing Mexico in terms of priest homicides was Nigeria.
According to a report by the Catholic Multimedia Center, from 1990 to 2022, a total of 63 priests in Mexico were victims of murder. Father Sotelo, in highlighting the dire situation, mentioned that they have documented numerous cases of churches being desecrated, attacked, robbed, looted, or violated within a single week. Additionally, there were approximately 800 reported incidents of extortion and threats against priests between October 2021 and October 2022.
The U.S. Department of State, in its 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom, indicated that government officials and Catholic Church leaders do not attribute religious motives to these acts of violence. Research conducted by Father Rafael Luévano, an associate professor in the Religious Studies department at Chapman University, reveals that the majority of Roman Catholic priests were not targeted for confronting drug traffickers directly. Instead, they fell victim to the crossfire and violence generated by cartel conflicts.
Ultimately, priests become targets of violence due to what they symbolize—the moral opposition to the criminal activities and extreme brutality exhibited by the cartels.
Father Luévano expressed in his writing that priests, as representatives of God and leaders in the local community, hold a significant role. He stated, “Whether a priest is killed for the purpose of stealing his car, robbing the parish collection, or punishing his refusal to administer sacraments to known members of drug cartels, the underlying and ultimate reason for this violence is that the priest’s unwavering integrity poses a threat to the narco reality and the new social order in Mexico.”
Father Sotelo, acknowledging the essential role of priests, described them as social stabilizers. He emphasized, “Priests directly challenge organized crime. By eliminating a priest, they send two powerful messages: First, if they can kill a priest, they can kill anyone they desire. Second, targeting a priest is not just an attack on an individual; it is an assault on the entire community and its stability.”
It is imperative to raise awareness about the violence targeting priests. As noted by international human rights lawyer Kelsey Zorzi and legal counsel for Latin America with ADF International, Julio Pohl Garcia Prieto, in their recent writing, “The violence against religious leaders in Mexico is not only morally reprehensible but also indicative of a growing problem of religious persecution in significant parts of Latin America, as already witnessed in Nicaragua.”
The United States government must take a firm stance and condemn the violence against priests in Mexico. Additionally, it should exert pressure on the Mexican government to take decisive action to put an end to these abhorrent acts.