Priest who records the violence suffered by the Church in Mexico: there is fear, but faith is greater

The director of the Catholic Multimedia Center (CCM), Father Omar Sotelo, a priest and journalist who records the violence suffered by the Church in Mexico—a country considered among the most dangerous to exercise priestly ministry—“there is fear, but faith is greater.”

The CCM compiles and analyzes the violence suffered by the Catholic Church in Mexico, including crimes against priests. Its most recent report, which covers the period from 1994 to 2024, documents the murder of 80 priests, religious and lay people.

The record of decades of violence

Between 2018 and 2024 alone, 10 priests were murdered, another 10 priests and religious suffered acts of violence, and around 900 extortions and death threats were recorded against members of the Catholic Church.

At the beginning of October of this year, the most recent murder of a Catholic priest, Father Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada, of the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, in the state of Guerrero, was recorded.

Organized crime has not distinguished between priests, bishops and cardinals. Possibly one of the most memorable cases in the three decades covered by the CCM report is that of Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, Archbishop of Guadalajara, murdered in 1993 at the Guadalajara International Airport.

Also in recent years, prelates and a cardinal have seen the violence of organized crime face to face. The current Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, revealed in 2022 that he was detained by drug traffickers on a highway when he was making a pastoral visit to his archdiocese.

Just this year, the Archbishop of Oviedo (Spain), Bishop Jesús Sanz, said he was held at gunpoint by criminals during a visit to the Diocese of Tlapa, in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

Mexico and the constant danger for priests

In a video published this Sunday, October 26, Father Sotelo recalled that “about 15 years ago, Father Habacuc Hernández, along with two seminarians, was murdered in a town near Ciudad Altamirano, in Guerrero.”

“This murder marked me greatly because before Habakkuk and after Habakkuk there have been a series of murders that have made Mexico one of the most violent countries in which to exercise the priesthood,” he said.

Father Sotelo highlighted that from the CCM, in Mexico City, “we have dedicated ourselves to making visible this problem that without a doubt has greatly marked the Church of Mexico, which continues working to announce and denounce this type of situations.”

The Mexican priest and journalist recognized that this work “puts us in danger, like many of our Mexican brothers, we are in danger due to the violence that exists. However, prayer, dedication and being able to do something to try to change the reality that our country is experiencing motivates us to continue working constantly.”

“Today as a priest, but also as a journalist, we have the great commitment to continue exercising a prophetic voice, a voice that changes, a voice that can do better something that Mexico does not need and does not deserve, the violence that happens,” he expressed.

Why do they kill priests?

While pointing out that “the murder of priests in the country has deeply marked the Church and Mexico,” Father Sotelo said that the criminals “shut up this voice, because the priests are social stabilizers and by silencing them they destabilize the communities, because fear enters, terror enters, drug trafficking, narcopolitics, narcoviolence enters.”

“Yes, there is fear, but faith in our Master Jesus Christ is greater to continue announcing and denouncing these types of situations that affect our country,” he assured.

“Being the voice of the voiceless, being a bridge that helps us reach hope, and even more so in this jubilee of hope, are the reasons that as a priest, as a journalist, drive me to continue offering a word that helps, that redeems, that sanctifies the men and women of our time,” he concluded.