The discovery marks another grim chapter in Mexico’s ongoing struggle with violence against clergy, particularly in a region notorious for drug cartel activity.
Newsroom (09/10/2025, Gaudium Press ) The body of Father Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada, a Catholic priest, was found on October 6 in the municipality of Mezcala, Guerrero state, approximately 150 miles south of Mexico City, according to the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa. The discovery marks another grim chapter in Mexico’s ongoing struggle with violence against clergy, particularly in a region notorious for drug cartel activity.
Father Pantaleón, pastor of San Cristóbal Parish in Mezcala, had been missing for two days before his body was discovered. Mexican television network Milenio reported that the priest was shot twice in the neck, underscoring the brutality of the attack.
Driver Named as Suspect
On October 7, Federal Public Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch identified Father Pantaleón’s driver as a suspect in the murder. “Everything indicates that he died in his truck. He was killed in his truck. He was about to head out to say Mass. And everything indicates that it was his own driver,” García Harfuch told reporters. He added, “At this time, we have no indication that the father was involved in anything wrong.”
The motive for the killing remains unclear, and authorities have yet to release further details about the suspect or the circumstances surrounding the crime.
A Region Plagued by Violence
Guerrero, a state stretching south of Mexico City, is marked by stark contrasts—home to the glitzy resort city of Acapulco and impoverished Indigenous communities. For over a decade, it has been a battleground for drug cartels. Once Mexico’s heroin-producing heartland, the region has seen criminal enterprises shift from heroin trafficking to extortion and kidnapping rackets, fueled by the rise of fentanyl, according to Bishop Salvador Rangel, who led the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa from 2014 to 2022.
The state gained international notoriety in 2014 when 43 teacher trainees were abducted by police and handed over to a criminal group in an unsolved atrocity that continues to haunt the region. Bishop Rangel, a controversial figure, made headlines for engaging directly with drug cartel leaders to broker peace in Guerrero. In 2024, he told OSV News that cartels were actively backing candidates in that year’s elections. Guerrero’s four bishops also attempted to negotiate a peace accord between rival cartels in 2024, an effort endorsed by then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Catholic Church in Mourning
The Mexican bishops’ conference issued a statement on October 6, expressing grief and calling for justice. “We note with sadness and pain that acts of violence have once again plunged our Catholic community into mourning,” the statement read. “We demand that the competent state and federal authorities conduct a prompt, thorough, and transparent investigation that will clarify this crime and ensure just punishment for those responsible.”
The bishops emphasized that violence has no place in a society that values life, truth, and peace, urging an end to the impunity that has allowed such crimes to proliferate.
Mexico’s Deadly Toll on Clergy
Father Pantaleón’s murder reinforces Mexico’s status as the world’s most dangerous country for Catholic clergy. According to the Catholic Multimedia Center, at least 53 priests have been killed in Mexico since 2006, with 10 murders occurring between 2019 and 2024. Extortion and other crimes targeting clergy and churches remain widespread.
The Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa has been particularly hard-hit. In 2018, two priests were killed in an ambush within the diocese. In 2014, the remains of Comboni Father John Ssenyondo, a Ugandan missionary, were found in a mass grave near Chilapa.
As investigations into Father Pantaleón’s death continue, the Catholic community in Guerrero and beyond mourns yet another loss in a region where peace remains elusive.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSVnews
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