Catholic priests across Jalisco are under threat from criminal gangs, senior church officials are warning.
Priests are regular targets for extortionists, and some have had their churches ransacked, Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, the archbishop of Guadalajara, told local media this week.
Without disclosing many details, Robles Ortega mentioned the recent case of a group of worshippers who were praying in a provincial church when their meditation was interrupted by a posse of armed men looking for the local priest. Fortunately, he was on an errand and did not confront the gunmen.
Robles Ortega also criticized the slow pace of the investigation into the murder of a 32-year-old priest inside his Tlajomulco church in April of this year. A man who has been detained in connection with the shooting death of Padre Juan Miguel Contreras was recently released by state authorities and no further arrests have been made.
This trend is not limited to Jalisco. The lifeless body of another priest reported missing in the community of Nueva Italia, Michoacan was found last weekend.