Mexican priest kidnapped, tortured after condemning criminal gangs
November 14, 2016
A Mexican Catholic priest who was kidnapped on November 11 was released alive, but showing “obvious signs of torture,” two days later.
Father José Luis Sanchez Ruiz was abducted after having received many threats. The Diocese of San Andres Tuxtla, in the state of Veracruz, said that the threats were obviously prompted by the priest’s statement condemning corruption and criminal activity in the town of Catemaco, where he served.
Father Sanchez Ruiz is the 3rd priest to be kidnapped in the state of Veracruz in the past three months, and the first to return alive. Police have suggested that each of the crimes was motivated by robbery—a theory that does not satisfy Church officials. More than 30 priests have been killed in Mexico in the past decade, with most of the bloodshed attributed to drug-trafficking gangs.
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