They steal two Catholic churches in less than six days in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico

In less than six days, two chapels of the Diocese of Tula were stolen, located in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, which the local church considers that it could be “an attack” addressed to the Catholic community.

In a statement From September 19, the parish of San Marcos Evangelista expressed his “deep sadness and outrage” for the robberies committed in the chapels of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of Carmen, separated by just three kilometers.

According to what was reported, the first affected chapel was that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where the attack occurred during the early hours of Saturday, September 13. Although there were no great damage, it was found that “the Tabernacle (was) removed from its place and put on the ground” and the donations of the intentions of the previous Sunday were stolen.

Meanwhile, in the Chapel of Our Lady of Carmen the robbery occurred on September 18. The criminals managed to take three 40 centimeter wood images representing San José, the Virgin Mary and an angel, “which are highly valued, appreciated and sign of great devotion for their seniority and presence in the community,” explained the parish.

Likewise, “they violated the Virgen del Carmen Search taking their content and took the key to the tabernacle.”

The statement warns that “the entire Catholic community has been offended, since they have attacked sacred elements that are essential for us.” In addition to the stolen images, which “represent a valuable sign of faith, devotion, art and history,” the importance of the tabernacle was underlined, where the “consecrated hosts that are the real presence of Christ living.”

Theft or sacrilege?

In an interview with ACI Prensa, the pastor of the area where the chapels are, Fr. Cutberto Ramírez Gutiérrez said that “unfortunately it seems more an attack than really the robbery.”

The priest expressed his strangeness because no more material things were taken and indicated that he could be due to the “value, monetary cost and value she has for the community.”

On the other hand, he pointed out that “something that is very worrying” is that these robberies occurred in the weeks before Halloween, because “the attacks on the chapels are given in these months, September, October, and there are many people who are dedicated to making pagan rituals, diabolics, satanic, and subtract the sacred things precisely to make their rituals.”

Although at first glance it is not observed that they have desecrated the consecrated hosts, it also does not rule out that “someone who else did as feint and effectively just takes (religious objects) in a very discreet way to make rituals.”

“There is no respect for the sacred, in this case to ours, to the Catholic. Naturally, it reflects a decomposition in values, in the appreciation of the sacred, to the religious,” he said.

The “Lucrative Business” of Sacred Art

The Multimedial Catholic Center (CCM), an agency that documes violence against members and institutions of the Catholic Church in Mexico, warned that these facts are not isolated, but part of a national trend.

In a 2024 report, the CCM notes that “every week around 26 sacred enclosures”, of all kinds, “are desecrated by the commission of high -impact crimes, minors and sacrileges or desecrations.” This is equivalent to 12% of the approximately 11,000 temples in Mexico.

According to the report, the attacks against temples derive from two main situations: “The lucrative trafficking of sacred art that threatens enclosures for appropriation and pillage of the historical, cultural and religious heritage of the nation” and, on the other hand, actions motivated by “anti -religious issues, political motifs, to collect floor rights and, in other cases, to record its alleged leagues with sects with sects or satanic cults.”

According to the CCM, 42% of the people who make these crimes are “organized crime professionals specialized in the theft of sacred art.” In 37% they belong to “groups that attack for various reasons for intolerance and religious discrimination.” Finally, 21% are “criminals dedicated to express theft of religious objects on a smaller scale and of little value.”

In many cases, robberies range from alms and parochial archives to sound equipment, calices, custodians, copones, censers, candlesticks, vases and cash. The report also points to the so -called “metal growers”, who subtract around 50 church bells per year, motivated by the value of the metal.