Authorities find body of missing priest in violence-torn region of Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities found the body of a missing priest Monday in Mexico’s violence-torn southern state of Guerrero, the same area where a retired bishop who had tried to mediate between local cartels was kidnapped last year.

The state prosecutor’s office announced the discovery in a statement identifying the deceased only as Bertoldo N and said they were investigating his death as a homicide.

The diocese of Chipalcingo-Chilapawhere reported the disappearance of Rev. Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada on Saturday, and the church where he worked confirmed in a statement late Monday that the body had been identified as the missing priest and thanked everybody who helped to find him.

The 58-year-old priest was the pastor of the San Cristobal church in the town of Mezcala, an area with high levels of violence due to the presence of multiple criminal groups. The same region is where 43 teaching students disappeared more than a decade ago in a crime that remains unsolved.

The Jesuits of Mexico issued a statement mourning Pantaleón’s death and demanding more details. It was not immediately clear how he was killed or who was behind his death.

Priests and other religious figures, often involved in human rights advocacy, are frequently targeted by criminals in Mexico.

The killing of priests in a country where nearly 80% of people consider themselves Catholic underscores the ruthlessness of the violence that plagues parts of Mexico where rival cartel factions are warring for territorial control.

The most recent such killing occurred in October, when Rev. Marcelo Pérez, a well-known activist from the state of Chiapas near the Guatemalan border, was murdered after celebrating Mass.

According to the Catholic Multimedia Center, which tracks attacks against religious figures, 10 priests were killed in Mexico between 2019 and 2024. During the same period, the organization recorded 900 cases of extortion and death threats against Catholic officials in Mexico, as well as other forms of aggression.