Third priest killed in dangerous southern Mexico
Third priest killed in dangerous southern Mexico
Associated Press
By MARK STEVENSON
28 minutes ago
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A priest was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, his diocese said Friday, marking the latest in series of abductions, attacks and highway robberies against Roman Catholic clerics in an area of southern Guerrero state dominated by drug cartels.
Rev. Gregorio Lopez Gorostieta is the third Catholic priest to have been killed in the region this year, and the first to die since the federal government launched a special, stepped-up security operation in the area following the disappearance of 43 teachers' college students three months ago.
The motive in Lopez Gorostieta's killing remains unclear; Bishop Maximino Martinez said a group had been seen lurking around the seminary where the priest taught on the outskirts of Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero, on Sunday and Monday. Lopez Gorostieta was apparently kidnapped by the gang early Monday; his truck was found abandoned two days later.
"This is another priest added to those who have died for their love of Christ," Bishop Martinez said. "Enough already of so much pain, of so many murders. Enough already of so much crime. Enough extortions."
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http://news.yahoo.com/kidnapped-priest-mexico-found-dead-163413678.html
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Third Mexican Priest Murdered In State Where 43 Student Activists Were Abducted And Killed
By Angelo Young @angeloyoung_ a.young@ibtimes.com on December 26 2014 2:48 PM
[font size=1]Gregorio López Gorostieta, 39. Ciudad Altamirano Diocese Facebook Page [/font]
The body of Gregorio López Gorostieta, who disappeared late Sunday in Mexico’s southern Guerrero state, was found on Christmas Day by a highway near the seminary where the priest lived, a local bishop said Friday. This is the third execution of a priest this year in a state that’s plagued with murderous drug gangs and corrupt local politics.
Maximino Martínez Miranda, bishop of the diocese in Ciudad Altamirano, 170 miles southeast of Mexico City, released a statement confirming that López Gorostieta was found with a gunshot wound to the head, four days after he disappeared late Sunday after hosting several pre-Christmas masses.
“We call on all federal, state and municipal authorities to clarify the facts and bring justice for the death of so many brothers and sisters in the state of Guerrero,” Martínez said.
Other priests arriving for Christmas Mass in Cuidad Altamirano saw strangers force the 39-year-old priest from his truck late Sunday around midnight and said “outsiders” were seen earlier in the day casing the seminar’s facilities, Martínez told La Jornada newspaper.
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http://www.ibtimes.com/third-mexican-priest-murdered-state-where-43-student-activists-were-abducted-killed-1767732
