Catholic Priest Was Tortured and Killed in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato

“MX” for Borderland Beat

Catholic priest Gumersindo Cortes Gonzalez, who served for the Diocesis of Celaya, was killed by unknown assailants over the weekend. His body was found in Cerrito de Guadalupe, a rural community in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.

Investigators say Cortes was brutally tortured by his captors and killed with a firearm to the head and thorax. His vehicle was found close to where his corpse was abandoned. 

Cortes, 64, was a Catholic priest since 9 March 1963. He served for many years in the multiple Catholic communities in Celaya and San Miguel de Allende.

Local media reports say that this incident is the first one of its kind in the Diocesis of Celaya. They did confirm that some of their priests have reported being extorted by drug cartels, but this was the first registered murder.

Cortes was the second Catholic priest murdered in Mexico since Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) took office. In August 2019, priest Jose Martin Guzman Vega was stabbed to death outside a church in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. A week before his death, Guzman Vega had criticized Tamaulipas governor Francisco Javier Cabeza de Vaca for the growing insecurity in his community.

Why are priests attacked?

Clergymen in Mexico are not immune to the drug violence nor to attacks from drug cartels. Priests have been victims of extortion from organized crime groups. If a priest refuses to pay the demanding cartel, the threats can become severe and include burning of church precints, kidnappings, and even murder.

Priests’ outspokenness against organized crime activity can also incur reprisals, especially in areas where these crimes are high. Others have received death threats and attacks because they have protected migrants (common preys of organized crime) from abuse.

As reported by Borderland Beat, priests are sometimes viewed as “social stabilizers” in communities. This is can be used against them by organize crime groups, who understand that killing a priest can cause social destabilization, thus sowing fear to be able to act at well. 

Sources: El Heraldo de Mexico; Sieste 24; Noroeste; Borderland Beat archives