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Guatemala: Kidnapped priest murdered

A notable rise in violence against priests and religious has been noted in several Latin American countries.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

By Martin Barillas

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A Guatemalan Catholic Fr. Miguel Angel Hernandez, a Franciscan who had been assigned to a parish in Honduras, was found dead on November 11, in a province of eastern Guatemala. The Honduran police says that Rev. Hernandez was kidnapped last weekend while going from his parish in Ocotepeque, Honduras, towards the eastern city of Chiquimula in Guatemala.

The body of the 45-year-old priest was found inside a hotel in the town of Esquipulas, a place of pilgrimage east of the capital, and had suffered several stab wounds. The body was transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences of Chiquimula for an autopsy.

The priest had worked for four years as pastor in Ocotepeque. Speaking on local radio, fellow priest Fr. Juan Pablo Lobos urged the authorities to investigate the murder.

Latin America has seen a recent increase in violence towards missionaries and religious. On November 12, there was news of another priest who had been brutally murdered in Brazil, the fourth in five months.

Speroforum editor Martin Barillas is a former US diplomat, who also worked as a democracy advocate and election observer in Latin America. He is also a freelance translator.

Filed under guatemala, religion, catholic, crime, security, kidnapping, christianity, honduras

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