Mexico: priest murdered in burglary

On the night between February 21-22, in  Mecapala, a community of about 5,000 inhabitants in the Mexican state of Puebla, Rev. Santos Sánchez Hernández was found dead in the rectory. He was a native of the community of Pastoria in the town of Chicontepec, in the state of Veracruz. According to Bishop Juan Navarro Castellanos of Tuxpan, evidence points to a possible burglary. Once the priest was discovered, the perpetrator attacked the priest with a machete, gravely injuring him and then finally killing him. The case is under investigation, says the Bishop's message. Fr Santos, 43, had arrived at the parish in June 2010.

"We invite everyone in the Diocese of Tuxpan unite with us in prayer, praying to the Lord for F.r Santos Sanchez Hernandez, for his family and for the diocesan community, and the consolation of eternal hope," writes Bishop Navarro Castellanos. In an interview with a local newspaper in Tuxpan following a funeral Mass for the priest, the bishop said, "He who murders must make amends with God, because to kill is a mortal sin. Life is a divine gift from God that no man can dispense."

Bishop Navarro Castellanos further condemned the climate of violence and insecurity, observing that "this comes as a reflection on the corruption, the shame and the immoral social situation of the institutions which create ethical and social disorder, which confuse people, creating situations and attitudes which lead to violations of human rights and to violence."

 According to Conference Catholic Bishops of Mexico, Fr Santos Sanchez Hernandez was born on August 29, 1967 in Potrero del Llano, Veracruz. He studied philosophy and theology at the Interdiocesan Seminary in Xalapa. He was ordained a deacon on December ww, 1998 and to the priesthood on April 28, 1999. He was appointed parish priest of St Francis of Assisi in Zontecomatlán, Veracruz, on June 4, 2000. He was coordinator of the Pastoral Liturgy (from December 2002), coordinator for Indigenous Pastoral Care for the diocese (from February 2004). He held a degree in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Mexico, and was appointed assistant parish priest of Santiago El Pescador in Tamiahua on November 14, 2009, then appointed parish priest of San José in Mecapalapa, Puebla on June 24, 2010. He was recently appointed Dean of the parish of Tihuatlán. 

Source: FIDES