Father Lorenzo Medina was wounded in the arm by a firearm in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The attack occurred while he was traveling with five other people to his community, in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo.
As reported by the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Chihuahuathe attack occurred on January 17, while the group was heading from the municipal seat towards the town of Dolores, where the quasi-parish of Nuestra Señora del Rosario is located, pastorally cared for by Father Medina. On the way, according to the authorities, the priest and those traveling with him “suddenly heard a roar, and they thought one of the tires had burst and they got out to check it.”
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“Then they heard gunshots, so they went up to the unit again to leave the place, and it was at that moment that they were injured, and they went to a hospital to receive medical attention,” indicates the statement from the Prosecutor’s Office. .
As a result of this action, a 69-year-old woman and the priest, 41, were injured. According to authorities, both are out of danger.
For its part, the Diocese of Parral, to which Father Medina belongs, published a statement on the same day of the attack, reporting that the priest “was discharged, and will receive medical follow-up in the coming days.”
Likewise, he called on the authorities to “stop the climate of violence in the region, since more and more people are displaced and affected by this situation.”
The municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo, located in the extreme south of Chihuahua, is mired in violence due to the action of organized crime. The town borders the municipality of Badiraguato, in the state of Sinaloa, known for being the place of origin of Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal groups in the region and which is currently purged life sentence in the United States.
According to the State Commission of Human Rights in ChihuahuaSince 2021, forced displacements of indigenous communities have been reported in this municipality “due to insecurity and violence.”
For their part, the authorities indicated that they maintain an operational deployment in the region “in order to provide security to the inhabitants and find the whereabouts of the person or persons allegedly responsible for this aggression.”
It may have been “a mistake”
In an interview with ACI Prensa, Father Medina expressed that he considers it unlikely that the attack was directed against him. “The strongest hypothesis is that it was a mistake,” he said.
“It was cloudy and the clashes (between organized crime groups) are very intense, especially on the road. I feel that that intense environment, unfortunately, favored that reaction,” he explained.
The priest pointed out that in the region where he carries out his pastoral work there is the presence of two criminal groups in constant confrontation for control of the territory. However, he assured that, in his previous meetings with them, “I have not had any problems, nothing. We enter the communities, they even let us pass in a respectful manner.”
Father Medina explained that “normally when you are in those places, the hitmen stop you.” In these meetings, after a few questions, they usually allow passage without problems; However, he stated that this time “there was no checkpoint, but rather they threw us directly. It wasn’t a crossfire, it was direct. “It wasn’t meant to scare us either, it was direct, that is, to attack us.”
“I saw the hand of God in every moment”
The priest described the return journey in search of medical attention for the woman, whose bullet entered the cheek as a “martyrdom,” but assured that it was God who “gave us the opportunity to arrive, to be cared for and that the other people did not receive any bullets.”
Despite the difficulties, Father Medina expressed his certainty that “God manifested himself in many ways in that tragedy, I feel that he was there” accompanying them.
He mentioned that during the return journey, he experienced moments of anguish, such as when the injured lady was “screaming that she was drowning, she was dying.” However, the priest highlighted that “God gave me a lot of temperance, a lot of strength, especially to handle that intense moment.”
His calmness not only allowed him to react quickly, but also to provide spiritual comfort to the wounded woman, whom he asked “if he repented of his sins and I gave him absolution, and we prayed on the way.”
When asked if he would leave his pastoral work due to the incident, Father Medina expressed his firm decision: “I am going to continue serving as a priest.” It is now at the disposal of the bishop and will remain in the city of Parral, supporting parishes while its future is decided.
After knowing that he is physically well and after confessing, he indicated that he feels “strengthened, I feel with faith, because I saw the hand of God in every moment.” “Spiritually, I feel blessed, I feel accompanied and I feel loved,” he concluded.
Diego López Colin
I am a graduate of Journalism at the Carlos Septién García School with experience in religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I have been writing for digital media and, since 2018, I have reported the most important news about Catholic events in Mexico for the EWTN news channel. ACI Prensa correspondent in Mexico since 2023.