A Catholic priest who directed a migrant shelter in Tecate was found dead on May 17, two days after he was reported missing. His death has prompted calls from the Catholic Church for greater security for those in Mexico working with migrants and refugees.
Father José Guadalupe Rivas Saldaña, 57, served as pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Tecate, about 30 miles east of Tijuana. Since June 2021, he also directed the migrant shelter there, Casa del Migrante de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.
"We know that people who defend the human rights of migrants and refugees are exposed to contexts of great adversity and violence, so it is essential that the state guarantees the protection of people who exercise this commitment," read a May 19 statement from the Scalabrinian mission, a congregation dedicated to the service of migrants and refugees.
Rivas was found dead, from apparent head injuries, along with another unidentified person, after being reported missing on May 15, according to the Archdiocese of Tijuana.
The death of Rivas came as migration through the area intensified last week in anticipation that the Biden administration would lift Title 42, a health restriction mostly halting asylum processing at the U.S. border. Title 42 was imposed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The administration had planned to end the policy, which says border officials can keep out asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants and expel those who enter the United States without permission. A federal judge in Louisiana on Friday blocked the Biden administration from lifting the public health order as planned Monday on the U.S.'s southwest border with Mexico.
In a May 18 statement, the Archdiocese of Tijuana and the Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón prayed for the deceased priest's "return to the Father's House." In an interview with local media over the weekend, Barrón demanded that the Baja California Attorney General's office expedite its investigation and find those responsible for the murder.
Barrón said Rivas had worked for more than 20 years in the diocese of San Judas Tadeo. During his Sunday gospel, streamed on Facebook, the archbishop called for peace, lamenting the fact that Mexico and particularly Baja California are "immersed in a climate of violence."
He also asked members of the community to become "conductors of peace."
Since 2005, at least 47 pastoral workers within the Catholic Church have been killed in Mexico, according to the documentary and book, Tragedia y Crisol del sacerdocio en México, and Vatican News. That makes the country the most dangerous in the world for clergy.
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