Four female members of Opus Dei died in a tragic accident on a highway in the state of Coahuila, northern Mexico, on Thursday, July 25.
According to the newspaper Millenniumthe accident occurred on the Matehuala-Saltillo highway, near the municipality of Arteaga, around 11 in the morning, in the lanes that lead from south to north.
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The report indicates that the women found the traffic stopped, turned on their flashing lights and slowed down. However, the driver of a heavy-duty truck that was coming behind them did not stop. Upon impact, it caused them to collide with other stopped trailers.
He website of Opus Dei confirmed that the women who lost their lives were three attachés of the personal prelature: Carla Angulo, from Culiacán; Socorro Solórzano, from Guadalajara; and Lydia García, from Mexico City; as well as the numerary Mariana Vela, from Monterrey.
Who were the women who lost their lives?
According to the Opus Dei website, Angulo was a researcher in the area of Medicine at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa, and had just completed a master’s degree in Bioethics. She is remembered as a woman who “took advantage of her professional environment to bring her many friends and colleagues closer to God, with her example and her big heart.”
Solórzano worked as an academic secretary in Guadalajara, at the School of Communication at the Universidad Panamericana, linked to the prelature of Opus Dei. The website noted that she “always had a deep conviction that she could transform the world through her professional work and her friendship with those around her.”
De García worked in the library of the Universidad Panamericana, in Mexico City. “His desire to grow professionally was always motivated by helping others. With her indelible smile, she welcomed anyone who approached her with genuine interest,” notes the Opus Dei website.
Mariana is remembered as a woman “who was distinguished by her joy and by always making others laugh with her good advice, jokes and funny anecdotes.”
Another person who was traveling in the car was Loretta Limón, from Chihuahua, who survived the accident and is in serious condition in a hospital, for which “God was asked for her recovery.”
Bishops of Mexico show solidarity with Opus Dei
Mons. Ramón Castro Castro, general secretary of the Mexican Episcopate Conference (CEM), sent his condolences to the Opus Dei community for the “painful event” that “has deeply moved the entire Church in Mexico.”
Through a letter dated July 25 broadcast on prelature channels, the bishop of Cuernavaca also assured that the “thoughts and prayers” of the prelates “are with the families of the deceased, as well as with all the members of Opus Dei who knew and loved them.”
Likewise, Bishop Castro Castro expressed his prayers for the speedy recovery of Loretta Limón, who was also affected in this unfortunate accident.
“May the Lord welcome our deceased sisters into his bosom and grant them eternal rest. May his perpetual light shine upon them and may their souls rest in peace,” he noted.
The Opus Dei website shared that in this moment of “deep pain and sadness we join in the prayers of many people of the Work and friends, for the eternal rest of all those involved and for the prompt consolation of their families, whom “We send our deepest condolences.”
Diego López Colin
I am a graduate of Journalism at the Carlos Septién García School with experience in religious institutional communication. Since 2016 he has written for digital media and, since 2018, I have reported the most important news about Catholic events in Mexico for the EWTN news channel. He has been ACI Prensa correspondent in Mexico since 2023.