Violence against Christians in Mexico has reached its “peak” as religious leaders faced targeted killings and assaults while hundreds of Catholics faced threats and extortion in the last six years, according to a new report.
Nearly 900 members associated with the Roman Catholic Church’s ministries faced extortion or threats between 2018 to 2024, reads the report released this week by the Catholic Multimedia Centre (CCM) and shared by the United Kingdom-based watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Meanwhile, 26 religious buildings were attacked during that time.
During former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s term (2018-2024), 10 Roman Catholic priests and a seminary student were murdered, the report adds, also noting that his term saw seven bishops and seven additional priests survive violent attacks. The murder of another priest occurred under the current President, Claudia Sheinbaum, who assumed office in October.
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“Like never before in the history of Mexico, violence has reached its peak,” the report states, according to a Google translation. “In one way or another, we have witnessed or, worse still, been shocked by the horror of violence, which in certain regions and cities, has reached the point of totally destabilizing aspects of economic life, social life, and the social and economic system.”
CSW’s Director of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said the report presents a “deep concern.”
“The CCM has been documenting this trend for almost 35 years and it is of deep concern that attacks on priests and religious leaders spiked and have remained steadily high over the past three presidential administrations, with no real sign of improvement,” Stangl said in a statement.
“We stand in solidarity with the CCM in calling for the international community, in collaboration with the Mexican government, to effectively address the various factors, including impunity, corruption and the proliferation of violent organized criminal groups involved in the international trafficking of human beings, weapons and drugs, that have made Mexico one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a Catholic priest.”
The findings come as “no surprise” for Pablo Vargas, national director of Impulso18, who attended the report’s launch.
“Religious leaders, especially those who are working with the most marginalized and speaking out against corruption and in favor of human rights and peace, are often identified by organized criminal groups as problems to be silenced or eliminated altogether,” Vargas said. “We call on President Sheinbaum to work with state governments to combat a culture of impunity and to implement effective mechanisms to protect human rights defenders, including religious leaders, who are under threat.”
The October assassination of Fr. Marcelo Pérez Pérez, a priest and human rights activist from the San Cristóbal de las Casas Diocese, was a direct attack on his human rights work rather than being collateral damage, the report stressed.
Crimes against religious leaders in Mexico are often underreported because of a prevailing culture of fear, leaving many victims reluctant to file formal complaints. Combined with ineffective law enforcement, the report warns this environment perpetuates the cycle of violence and intimidation faced by those serving in religious roles.
There are no recorded incidents of aggression or attacks against religious women, including consecrated women involved in social activism and pastoral work in challenging areas of the country. However, it remains certain that they have experienced such harm, added the report.
Evangelicals in Mexico have also faced persecution in recent years. In the spring, more than 150 Protestant Christians were forcibly displaced from their communities in Mexico’s Hidalgo state and were pressured to sign an agreement that advocates say violates human rights protections under Mexican law and restricted their religious freedom.
