The Church of Mexico reacts to the murder of a priest in Michoacán

Photo: Facebook / Parish of San Francisco Curungueo / Courtesy

After the murder of the priest Javier Garcia Villafanawhose body was found inside a vehicle with several bullet holes on a highway near the municipality of Huandacareo, in the state of Michoacán, the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate (CEM) ruled on the matter.

Through a statement, the Church asked the authorities to identify and punish those responsible for this murder, stating that they will not allow the crime to go unpunished.

“We urgently call on the competent authorities to carry out an exhaustive and transparent investigation that leads to the identification and punishment of those responsible. We cannot allow this and other similar acts to go unpunished.”, the document states.

Likewise, the Mexican bishops assured that this type of event threatens peace and justice, as well as being a painful reminder that organized crime and impunity are still present in society.

Despite this unfortunate fact, the Mexican Episcopate indicated in the statement that they will continue their work to promote justice, faith and dialogue, considering that they are the tools to achieve true social transformation.

Javier García Villafaña worked as a priest of the Catholic Church in the municipality of Capacho, Michoacán. Last Monday night, the murder of a man was reported on the road that leads to Huandacareo.

Although at first the authorities did not reveal the identity of the victim, it was later learned that it was the Catholic priest, without the reason for the crime or the identity of those responsible being able to be determined so far.

According to the AP agency, at least nine religious leaders have been assassinated in Mexico in the last five yearsThe most recent case being that of García Villafaña, although one day before this homicide there was an attack against the priest Faustino Armendáriz Jiménez, archbishop of the state of Durango.

Besides, In June of last year, the Mexican Jesuits Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín Mora Salazar were assassinated. in the northern state of Chihuahua. A month earlier, the death of Father José Guadalupe Rivas, who ran a migrant house in the municipality of Tecate, in the state of Baja California, was reported.

Keep reading:
– Tierra Caliente: the deadliest region of Mexico for priests due to violence.
– “El Chueco”, criminal leader and alleged murderer of two priests, owned a luxurious house in the Sierra Tarahumara.