The death of Father Salvador Ruiz Enciso was announced with «great sorrow and consternation» by Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz.
The priest had disappeared sometime after celebrating Mass on Sunday, May 15.
The priest’s body was found early May 23, already showing signs of decay, and later confirmed through DNA testing. He was bound and blindfolded and had a wound in the neck.
«We condemn the brutal way in which his life was taken,» the statement from Archbishop Romo Muñoz said, «and we trust in authorities so that those responsible for his death will be brought to justice.»
In communities where Father Ruiz Enciso exercised his priestly ministry «he is remembered with affection and as a man of God,» the archbishop added.
The Fides agency noted that the priest had become popular for promoting a «Mass of the family,» during which he used puppets to explain the Gospel to children.
