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CV NEWS FEED // An altar server and his brother were killed in a shooting November 9 outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Entabladero, Veracruz, on Mexico’s Gulf Coast.
A Facebook post from the Catholic Multimedia Center stated that one of the brothers was an altar server and the other was helping his mother clean the church. Both were shot by gunmen on a motorcycle who fled the scene.
One of the boys died immediately and the other died several hours later at the hospital.
The Veracruz Prosecutor’s Office stated that they have identified one of the shooters.
In an unofficial translation of his statement, Veracruz Governor Cuitláhuac García stated, “Regarding the incident involving two minors in Entabladero, municipality of Espinal, we reaffirm that there will be no impunity. The FGE [State Prosecutor’s Office] has informed us preliminarily that one of those responsible has been identified. As has been done in other cases, justice will be served.”
On October 20, an indigenous priest, Father Marcelo Pérez, was shot in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, on his way home from celebrating Sunday Mass, as CatholicVote previously reported.
The Associated Press had reported, “[Father Pérez] was known as a negotiator in conflicts in a mountainous region of Chiapas where crime, violence, and land disputes are rife.”
The AP added that Father Pérez also “led several marches against violence, which has brought him several death threats.”
The Mexican bishops released a statement upon his death.
An unofficial translation of it reads: “May the sacrifice of Fr. Marcelo Pérez not be in vain, but may it inspire us all to work more effectively to build a more just, peaceful and fraternal society in Chiapas and throughout the country, faithful to the message of the Gospel that he preached with his life and death, and that is how we will remember him.”
