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On Monday, a priest and a group of seminarians were bound inside a Catholic church in Mexico City amid a rising tide of violence and robbery at churches.
Criminals invaded the Saints of America parish on the south side of Mexico City on August 29 at around 8:00 a.m. and bound the parish priest, Father Jóse Luis Pérez, and a group of seminarians who were entering the church at the time.
Pérez told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, that the crooks took advantage of the fact that “the parish opens for Mass” at that time.
“They stole all the things we had here,” he said.
Computers and smart phones were taken from the seminarians who conduct virtual classes.
The thieves stole the priest’s mobile phone and money from the metal donation boxes and weekly collections at the Catholic church.
A few days before, the nearby St. Lawrence Deacon and Martyr parish was also broken into.
Father Julio Saucedo, the priest of the parish, told ACI Prensa that on August 20, criminals were able to cut a large hole in one of the walls of the ancient church.
Once inside the church, they smashed two contribution boxes open and stole the money, in addition to shattering windows.
St. Mary of the Apostles parish, which was stolen on the night of August 26–27, is in close proximity to both churches.
Pérez and Saucedo both reported filing complaints with authorities.
Saucedo said that the local police had a “greater presence” in the neighbourhood, particularly at night.