Mexico: Priest who ran migrant shelter murdered

Source: Archdiocese of Tijuana

Fr Jose Guadalupe Rivas 58, and another unidentified person have been found dead on a ranch in Tecate, on the US Mexico border. Fr Jose ran the Casa del Migrante de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Tecate (Baja California). He was a member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement of the Archdiocese of Tijuana, and served as parish priest of the parish of Saint Jude the Apostle.

Known as Father 'Pepe Lupe' Fr Jose had been missing since last weekend. On Monday, May 16, some parishioners went to the house in the rural area where he usually stayed and discovered his body and that of another person.

According to a report by the state investigative agency, the two bodies showed signs of violence.

The Archdiocese of Tijuana said that "together with Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón we join the prayer for the soul of Fr José Guadalupe Rivas Saldaña, who served in our Archdiocese for more than 25 years. May the Risen Christ be strength and comfort for his Family, the Catholic Movement of the Charismatic Renewal in our Archdiocese, the Community of the Casa del Migrante de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and for the Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus in the Municipality of Tecate where he served as parish priest".

Fr José Guadalupe Rivas was born on December 10, 1964 in Torreón, Coahuila, the fourth of ten children. He was ordained a priest on October 29, 1994. He had been parish priest in various communities and had also held other offices. Since July 6, 2021 he was responsible for the migrant shelter in Tecate.

Local police report that have been a total of 28 murders in the region since the beginning of 2022.

With the homicide of Fr José Guadalupe Rivas, five priests have been killed violently in Mexico in the last four years.. They are:

- Fr José Martín Guzmán Vega murdered on August 23, 2019 in the community of Cristo Rey de la Paz, ejido Santa Adelaida, of the diocese of Matamoros.

- Fr José Guadalupe Popoca Soto, parish priest of San Nicolás de Bari in Galeana, Zacatepec, Morelos. He was killed on the night of August 30, 2021

- Fr Gumersindo Cortés González of the clergy of the diocese of Celaya. On March 28, 2021, the Guanajuato State Prosecutor's Office reported the discovery of the lifeless body that showed signs of violence. The priest had been missing since the morning of Saturday, March 27.

- Fray Juan Antonio Orozco Alvarado, OFM, fell victim to crossfire on June 12, 2021. According to data provided by officials of the Franciscan province to which he belonged, the religious and parish priest, along with other lay people who accompanied him, got caught up in a standoff between rival cartels. He was on his way to celebrate Mass in the Tepehuana community of Pajaritos and in Mezquital, Durango. The events occurred on the highway on the border of the states of Durango and Zacatecas.