(ZENIT News / Mexico City, November 6, 2025) – Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is a Germany-based organization that supports Christians who are persecuted, oppressed, or in need through public awareness of such attacks, prayer, and action. On October 24, it presented a Report with observations of several years on the current situation in Mexico, which it categorizes as «Discriminatory,» meaning that laws or practices unfairly discriminate against certain religious groups, limiting their rights and opportunities.
The main threat comes from the authoritarianism of some Authorities and from organized crime. Violence against Christians in the country affects the clergy, lay evangelists, catechists, altar boys and pilgrims, victims of homicides during their participation in religious activities. ACN documented an average of 26 attacks per week against churches and places of worship, including desecrations of the Blessed Sacrament, arson and thefts of liturgical objects.
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for pastoral work. Exercising the ministry or professing the faith increases the risk of losing one’s life. The Report states that, during the six-year term of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, 10 priests were murdered, another 10 suffered attacks, and there were nearly 900 cases of extortion against members of the Catholic Church.
ACN has been operating with basic guidelines to support persecuted and oppressed Christians worldwide since 1947. In its 2025 Report on Religious Freedom in the World, it details cases in Mexico such as the murders of Father Javier García in Michoacán; Father José Angulo Fonseca in Jalisco; and Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez, an indigenous Tzotzil priest from Chiapas and a renowned defender of indigenous peoples.
It also highlights the case of an armed group that murdered seven young people from a parish group in Guanajuato, as reported by ZENIT on March 25; the attempted stabbing of the Archbishop of Durango, Faustino Armendáriz, in the sacristy of the Cathedral; the shooting attack on Father José Filiberto Velásquez after he denounced conflicts between criminal gangs in June of last year; the armed robbery of Bishop Gonzalo Alonso Calzada Guerrero, who was abandoned in the mountains; and the death threats against Father Abraham Hernández, of the parish of Christ the Savior, for not paying for protection in July of this year. Violence against pastoral agents is not limited to one place; it is present throughout the country.
«The current climate of impunity allows criminal organizations to repeat these acts of intimidation against members of the clergy who resist their demands,» ACN warns in its Report on Mexico. It emphasizes that these events reflect growing religious intolerance.
During the period analyzed, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation issued rulings on several cases related to religious freedom, including the use of public funds to display Nativity Scenes in public areas, the autonomy of churches in their sacramental records, and the constitutional limits of religious practices.
The Report also acknowledges that a complex relationship exists in Mexico between the secular nature of the government and the deep-rooted religious tradition in the majority of the country: the positions of those who seek to reinforce State neutrality clash with those who demand recognition of the right to religious expression in public life.
In iis Report, ACN acknowledges that, in the face of violence and corruption, the Mexican Catholic Church has assumed an active role in promoting peace and social dialogue, as exemplified by the proposal for peace presented to the Authorities in 2023, signed by the Episcopal Conference and the Conference of Major Superiors.
The Church also facilitated dialogue in 2024 for a truce between drug cartels in the state of Guerrero. Moreover, following the shooting of six migrants by the army in October 2024, the Archdiocese of Mexico City offered its support for migrants’ rights.
ACN’s Report warns of a worrying future for religious freedom in Mexico due to the persistence of organized crime, corruption, and the lack of official action, which threatens the lives of religious leaders and the right of millions of people to live and freely express their faith.
Authorities issue declarations of respect for religious freedom, but ACN’s Reports show collaboration between criminal groups and government omissions that generate a spiral of violence against the most fundamental human rights.
During the presentation of ACN’s 2025 Report on Religious Freedom in Mexico, academic Jorge Traslosheros commented: «There is a culture of corruption and violence present. We have vandalism and desecrations at an average rate of 26 cases per week. It’s not just sticking the tongue out at the Virgin Mary; no, it’s a case of desecration.»
The expert added: «With this information, which the Report gives us, I can proffer some warnings. We cannot minimize what is happening. Indeed, the main threat to religious freedom in Latin America is the alliance that is developing between organized crime and authoritarian governments.»
