A Mexican priest remains in a serious condition after being shot four times while travelling to minister to a sick person — an attack reinforcing Mexico’s reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous places for clergy. Source: Catholic Review.
Fr Héctor Alejandro Pérez was attacked on June 30 at about 5.45am local time after leaving his residence at the St Francis of Assisi parish in the southeastern city of Villahermosa, according to a statement the same day from the Tabasco Diocese.
The diocese said Fr Pérez had undergone emergency surgery and described his condition as “very serious, with an uncertain prognosis due to blood loss and the complexity of internal injuries”.
Those injuries included a broken humerus, colon and liver injuries and severe blood loss. He would also be intubated for 72 hours.
“The Diocese of Tabasco expresses its total condemnation of this barbaric act,” said the statement, signed by Bishop Gerardo de Jesús Rojas López.
“It asks the Lord to move the hearts of the unjust aggressors to conversion and repentance and that the faithful and all people of good will join together in the search for peace for our beloved Tabasco.”
Details of the attack on Fr Pérez remain unclear. The diocese attributed the violence to mistaken identity, saying, “It is believed this aggression was caused by confusion with another person.”
Local media, however, reported that the attack occurred at 8am and was carried out by an assailant on a motorcycle. The Catholic Multimedia Centre, which tracks attacks on clergy, said Fr Pérez was shot four times, but the motive for the attack was unknown.
The attack reflected the rising violence in Tabasco, a state on the Gulf of Mexico coast known for oil and cocoa production. Criminal groups have increasingly carried out crimes such as extortion in the state, which is the home of popular former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Violence has gripped Mexico, too, though President Claudia Sheinbaum insists that homicides have dropped by about 26 per cent since she took office in October 2024.
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Mexican priest shot, gravely injured in the Diocese of Tabasco (By David Agren, Catholic Review)
