Catholic priests slaughtered inside church by Mexican cartel, bodies stolen

Authored by washingtonexaminer.com and submitted by respectful_advice

Catholics are demanding the return of the bodies of two priests who were murdered after attempting to prevent drug traffickers from killing a man inside their church.

"It is with great sadness and pain that we mourn Father Javier Campos Morales, Father Joaquin Mora Salazar, and the man who, unfortunately, lost his life along with them," the Diocese of the Tarahumara region of Western Chihuahua said Tuesday.

The region borders Texas and New Mexico.

The priests were shot dead in the church "with no defense but their faith in God," as they tried to protect a man whose life was in danger, the statement read.

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The shooters took all three bodies, which officials are working to locate, according to a report.

Officials learned of the slaughter after receiving an emergency call around 6:00 p.m. on Monday, the report noted.

"The state government laments and condemns these violent actions in which two priests became circumstantial victims," state police said.

The Mexican armed forces, state agencies, and local agencies are working to find those responsible, but no suspects have been identified.

A regional cartel leader is reportedly believed to be connected to the event.

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"Amid so much death and crime in our country, we publicly condemn this tragedy and demand a prompt investigation and security for the community and all the priests in the country," the Catholic Diocese of Juarez said in a statement.

USERgarbo on June 22nd, 2022 at 04:53 UTC »

Some cartel members are legitimate nihiliststic psycopaths. They do not care about anyone. They can kidnap and/or murder anyone including pregnant women, children, whole families, innocent people, and babies and still sleep good at night. It's truly disturbing

D_is_for_Cookie on June 22nd, 2022 at 01:18 UTC »

Unfortunately dealing with cartels isn’t a simple process. At this point it would be like going up against a country but one that is competent at what it does. To simplify it, these organizations have been making billions of dollars a year since the 80s. They have private militaries, they have great communication networks around the world and a product that makes sure the money never dries up. At this point a lot of countries that have had cartels take over are essentially narco states whether or not they’ve openly admitted to it.

longhairedcountryboy on June 22nd, 2022 at 00:11 UTC »

I thought they still cared about their priests in Mexico. Even the bad guys. Guess I'm not keeping up with the times.