Religious Persecution Takes Its Toll on Catholic Faith in Mexico Ana Paula Morales - Aci Prensa World
go to original June 6, 2023

Mexican pilgrims carry an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint, outside the Basilica. (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

Recent episodes of violence against the Catholic Church, including the murder of a priest and the attempted murder of an archbishop, once again bring to the fore the persecution of the faith in Mexico and the power of organized crime.

On May 22, Augustinian priest Javier García Villafañe was found shot to death in his car on the Cuitzeo-Huandacareo highway. The Michoacán state attorney general’s office stated that he “was killed by several gunshots.”

Days before, an 80-year-old assailant tried to stab to death the archbishop of Durango, Faustino Armendáriz, in the cathedral sacristy after Mass was finished. Fortunately, the prelate was barely injured in the failed attempt.

In addition, in recent weeks there have been various cases of desecration and sacrilege in different churches in the country.

The period of religious persecution suffered by the Catholic Church in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century is known as “Cristiada.” In 1926 the attacks against the faith triggered the Cristero War, the armed confrontation between Catholics and the Mexican Army that ended in 1929, although numerous civilians and Cristeros were killed in government reprisals after the official end of the conflict.

Read the rest at National Catholic Register

Related: Separation of Catholics and State: Mexico's Divisive Religious History (The Guardian)

Related: Mexico’s Witch Legends Recall the Holy Inquisition’s Reign of Terror (Mexico News Daily)

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