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This December, a new report is highlighting the continued violence being committed against Catholic priests and churches in Mexico. The data was compiled by the Catholic Multimedia Center (CCM) in Mexico City, and examined instances of violence throughout the six-year term of the previous Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, as well as under the current administration.
President Lopez Obrador presided over a time when 10 Roman Catholic priests and one seminarian were murdered. During the same period, an additional seven bishops and seven priests were violently attacked, but these victims survived. The report’s authors went on to cite some 900 cases in which those associated with Catholic ministries were extorted or threatened. In addition, the report documented 26 attacks on religious buildings during the same period.
While Mexico’s June elections saw Claudia Sheinbaum win the presidency, the attacks on Catholics have continued. In October, priest and human rights advocate Fr. Marcelo Pérez Pérez – of the San Cristóbal de las Casas Diocese – lost his life in a violent assassination. The report explained:
“His assassination was not circumstantial, nor was it ‘collateral damage,’ and, in a cunning manner, it showed that his pastoral actions and activity in favour of human rights was inconvenient to those who cut short his existence.”
Peacemakers slain
Pablo Vargas, National Director of Impulso18, commented that he was unsurprised by the findings of the report. He noted to CSW that Catholic leaders of Mexico tend to be targeted because they are outspoken in their support of human rights and peace. This does not sit well with organized criminal groups, who tend to prey on society’s most marginalized:
“We call on President Sheinbaum to work with state governments to combat a culture of impunity and to implement effective mechanisms to protect human rights defenders, including religious leaders, who are under threat,” Vargas said.
The report echoed the idea of impunity for attacks on religious leaders, noting that the majority of instances of threats and extortion against them occurred in areas where it is known that organized crime is high. It also noted that the number of occurrences is likely much higher than what was reported, due to the reluctance of victims to make formal reports.
CSW’s Director of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl noted that over the 35 years that CCM has documented the upwards trend in violence, the rates have remained high:
“We stand in solidarity with the CCM in calling for the international community, in collaboration with the Mexican government, to effectively address the various factors, including impunity, corruption and the proliferation of violent organised criminal groups involved in the international trafficking of human beings, weapons and drugs, that have made Mexico one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a Catholic priest.”
