ROME, FEB. 25, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Though a botched robbery is likely the motive for the murder of Father Santos Sánchez Hernández, the killing reflects corruption and immorality in Mexico, according to one of the nation’s bishop,
Bishop Juan Navarro Castellanos of Tuxpan, Veracruz, made this observation in comments to the Fides agency. Father Sánchez was killed Monday night in the parish community of Mecapalapa, in the state of Puebla.
Authorities are investigating the incident but according to the bishop, it seems that someone entered the priest’s house to steal and, when he was discovered, attacked the priest with a machete and gravely wounded him.
Santos Sánchez Hernández was born Aug. 29, 1967, in Potrero del Llano, Veracruz. He was ordained a priest on April 28, 1999.
“We invite the whole community to join in the prayer of the Diocese of Tuxpan, to ask the Lord for the consolation of the eternal hope for Father Santos Sánchez Hernández and for his family and for the diocesan community,” Bishop Navarro Castellanos wrote.
In an interview with a local newspaper, the bishop noted that the assassin will have to render accounts to God. But, he also condemned a climate of violence and insecurity that he said reigns in Mexico, describing the murder of the priest as “a reflection of the corruption, the lies and the immoral social situation among the institutions that determine an ethical and social disorder, which confuses people, creating situations and conducts in violation of human rights and violence.”
