Catholic priest found murdered near road in central Mexico
A Catholic priest was found dead near a highway in central Mexico, with a sign bearing a message found near his body, according to church officials and local media. Authorities are investigating his death as a homicide.
The body was found on Tuesday morning near a road in Lolotla, in the state of Hidalgo, El Universal reported. A red vehicle with license plates was found at the scene.
Church officials identified the priest as Roman de la Cruz Hernandez, who led Santa Cruz parish in the Hidalgo city of Huejutla.
Hidalgo’s state prosecutor’s office confirmed that it had opened a homicide investigation following the discovery of the body and the message, according to El Universal. The message’s contents have not been released, and authorities have not announced a motive or established whether organized crime was involved.
The local diocese confirmed the killing in a statement on Wednesday and said it would not speculate about the circumstances while investigators worked to establish what happened.
“Given the alarming situation of violence in our country, we make an urgent appeal to the competent authorities to conduct a thorough investigation,” the diocese said. It demanded justice and called on authorities not to allow the murder to go unpunished.
Mexico’s national conference of Catholic bishops called for a full investigation and swift justice.
The murder follows a series of attacks on priests in Mexico since the start of the country’s war on drugs. The Catholic Multimedia Center, a Mexican Catholic organization, documented 13 priests murdered from 2018 through 2025, spanning the administrations of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum. Its 2025 annual report also listed three priests as missing.
The most recent previous case was that of Juan Manuel Zavala Pedregal, who was found dead in March in the southern state of Chiapas. Prosecutors are investigating his death as a homicide.
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