Mexican "Mobsters have told bishops to keep silent"

Priests have been warned not to meddle in underworld affairs.


Adapted from an article by the Houston Chronicle's Dudley Althaus, picked up by The San Antonio EXPRESS - NEWS. Sunday, June 28, 2009.


"Drug war enveloping clergy"

Death of Mexican priest heightens fears of violent narcotics cartels...



"CIUDAD ALTAMIRANO, Mexico -- Assassins have killed more than 11,000 people amid Mexico's 30 - month campaign against organized crime, slaughtering gangsters, police officers, soldiers and the occasional innocents alike with unfettered gusto.

"And now the killers have claimed Habacuc Hernández Benítez, 39, a Catholic priest whom colleagues and townspeople describe as a self - effacing, hard - working, humanity loving servant of God.

"Hernández was murdered gangland style on June 13 -- along with two teenage recruits to the priesthood -- at the entrance to Arcelia, a narcotics - country town near this isolated market center in Guerrero state, 160 miles southwest of Mexico City.

"The three were stopped by gunmen riding in two sport utility vehicles, forced out of their pickup and shot repeatedly in the back.

"[S]aid Othon Carranza, rector of the seminary where Hernández worked as a recruiter and fundraiser, This is a beginning, an indication that they don't respect anything. To be a priest doesn't mean anything. He was just one more victim of this violence.

"Mobsters have told bishops to keep silent.

"Priests working in communities controlled by gangsters have been warned not to meddle in underworld affairs."


Father Habacuc Hernández Benítez's heroic legacy: Carry on....


"His fellow priests said they would continue with a recently launched campaign to pormote peace in the diocese, undeterred by Hernández's death.

"The doors of the houses where parish priests live remain open, the gate of the seminary grounds unguarded.

"[D]eclares a pendant hanging in Hernández's small living quarters at the seminary, To serve God is not to live in peace. But to use yourself up for the good of others..."


Father Habacuc Hernández Benítez.

And two companions.

RIP June 13, 2009.