Pope Francis today lamented the number of murders in Mexico after the death of two Jesuit priests and a tour guide in a remote church in the mountains of the Mexican state of Chihuahua became known.
The Pope, who also belongs to this religious order, expressed his sadness and dismay at the murders of these two priests, whom he called “brothers.”
“There are so many murders in Mexico. I am close, in affection and prayer, to the Catholic community affected by this tragedy,” he said.
Priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar were shot dead last Monday in the town of Cerocahui “while trying to defend a man who was seeking refuge,” according to the order also known as the Society of Jesus.
A third religious, hearing the shots, entered the church and saw the bodies of the two Jesuits. «The murderer told him: ‘I’m sorry, we’re going to take the bodies away.’
In Mexico, members of various religious orders often act as defenders and mediators between the inhabitants of their communities and the hitmen of organized crime.
Some 30 priests have been killed in the last decade in Mexico, according to the NGO Centro Católico Multimedial.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reported today that the alleged murderer has an arrest warrant for his probable responsibility in the murder of a tourist from the United States in 2018.
At a press conference at the National Palace, he lamented the murder of Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín Mora Salazar and explained that the state prosecutor’s office is already carrying out the corresponding investigations.
