Three Christians Jailed in Southern Mexico Are Released

Villagers upset they declined to contribute to indigenous festival.

OAXACA DE JUAREZ, Mexico (Morning Star News) – Three Christians in southern Mexico jailed on Monday (Jan. 3) were released Thursday afternoon (Jan. 6), according to news reports. In the village of San Pedro Chimaltepec, near San Juan Mazatlan Mixe in eastern Oaxaca state, local authorities had jailed Bonifacio Martínez Sánchez, Donato Martínez Sánchez and Gerino […]

Killings, Kidnapping Target Christian Leaders in Mexico

Drug cartels suspected in killing of one pastor, abduction of another.

MIAMI (Morning Star News) – A Roman Catholic priest and an evangelical pastor in Mexico were killed this month, and another pastor was kidnapped, according to published reports. The Rev. José Martín Guzmán Vega was killed on Aug. 22 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, in northeast Mexico, according to the Catholic Multimedia Center (CCM). The priest of […]

Christian Family Takes Refuge in Mountains after Expulsion from their Home in Mexico

Eight children, 87-year-old grandfather drink rain water, collected dew.

MIAMI (Morning Star News) – Miguel Pérez Díaz, his eight children and 87-year-old father have been living in a mountainside shack since May, when local officials expelled them from their village in Chiapas state, Mexico. Relatives, friends and neighbors in Tajlovijho, a village in the municipality of San Andrés Larráinzar in southern Mexico, had been harassing […]

Christian Jailed in Chiapas, Mexico Told to Leave Area in Exchange for Freedom

Temporarily released due to illness, his wife serves time in his place.

(Morning Star News) – A Christian in Chiapas state, Mexico was summarily jailed for three days the evening of Jan. 7 for refusing to deny his faith and contribute to Traditionalist Catholic festivals, according to an advocacy group. Local authorities who practice the Traditionalist Catholic blend of indigenous pagan and Roman Catholic rituals also threatened […]

Extended Family Expelled from Village in Chiapas, Mexico

In two other states, three more Catholic priests shot dead.

(Morning Star News) – A Christian family of six and 10 other relatives are facing hunger and illness in Chiapas, Mexico after local officials drove them from their land for non-compliance with a “traditionalist” mix of indigenous pagan and Catholic rituals, according to a Mexico City-based news outlet. The family patriarch, identified only as Fernando […]

Christians in Mexico Deprived of Homes for Refusing to Renounce their Faith

Three incidents in one month by ‘Traditionalist Catholics,’ including physical attack.

AUSTIN, Texas (Morning Star News) – In one of at least three instances of persecution of Christians in southern Mexico’s Chiapas state last month, village leaders reneged on their agreement to allow 47 evangelicals who were expelled for their faith to return to their homes and land. In accordance with the agreement arranged by state officials, […]

Head of Town in Mexico Sends Mob to Beat, Abduct Christians

Traditionalist Catholics in Oaxaca demolish church building under construction.

LOS ANGELES (Morning Star News) – Traditionalist Catholics abducted, jailed and beat a group of evangelical Christians with rods and stones in Oaxaca, Mexico last week on orders from the head of a municipality, according to human rights officials. A mob sent by San Juan Ozolotepec President Pedro Cruz Gonzalez on Nov. 4 attacked the […]