Two missing Catholic priests found murdered in Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Deutsche Welle

Two missing Catholic priests found murdered in Mexico

Two Mexican priests have been murdered after they were abducted from their church in the oil-rich state of Veracruz. The state has been the scene of bloody turf wars between drug gangs.

20.09.2016

Two Mexican priests were found murdered Monday, just hours after they were kidnapped from the low-income neighborhood where they served in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

Prosecutors said the two men were abducted from their church in the state's northern city of Poza Rica on Sunday. The priests were found with bullet wounds in the municipality of Papantla, close to where they were kidnapped.

A third man, a church assistant, managed to escape the kidnappers. He was found on Monday and put under police protection.

. . .

The Catholic Multimedia Center, which monitors attacks against religious leaders in the country, said the deaths of the two priests means that 14 priests, one seminarian and one sacristan have been killed since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December 2012. The whereabouts of two other priests remains unknown.

Read more: http://www.dw.com/en/two-missing-catholic-priests-found-murdered-in-mexico/a-19562676

[warrprayer]

1. ...

Terrible.

[Eugene]

2. Mexican Authorities: Suspect Identified in Priest Killings

Source: Associated Press

Mexican Authorities: Suspect Identified in Priest Killings

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MEXICO CITY — Sep 20, 2016, 8:11 PM ET

Investigators have identified a suspect in the killing of two priests in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities said Tuesday, adding that the victims apparently knew their attackers.

The newspaper Reforma quoted the Veracruz state prosecutor, Luis Angel Bravo, as saying the priests were drinking with the attackers.

Bravo said the attackers then turned violent, taking money from the collection box as well as vehicles and the two priests, whose bullet-ridden bodies were later found on a roadside miles from the church. He did not say how many attackers there were or name the identified suspect.

He reportedly said that neither drug cartels nor kidnapping was involved in the crime.

Bravo's office was not immediately available to confirm that account. The office had said in a statement late Monday that prosecutors hoped to file a case against the identified suspect soon. It didn't say whether the suspect was in custody.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexican-authorities-suspect-identified-priest-killings-42232810