Tijuana (Agenzia Fides) - The bodies of 58 year old Catholic priest Jose Guadalupe Rivas and another unidentified person have been found on a ranch in Tecate. The priest ran the Casa del Migrante de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Tecate (Baja California) and was also a member of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement of the Archdiocese of Tijuana. He was known as Father "Pepe Lupe" and parish priest of the parish of Saint Jude the Apostle. The priest had been missing since last weekend. On Monday, May 16, a group of believers went to the house in the rural area where he usually stayed and discovered his body and that of another person. According to a report by the state investigative agency, the two bodies showed signs of violence. According to the police, there have been a total of 28 murders in the region since the beginning of 2022. "The Archdiocese of Tijuana and its Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón join the prayer for the soul of Fr. José Guadalupe Rivas Saldaña, who served in our Archdiocese for more than 25 years. May the Risen Christ be strength and comfort for his Family, the Catholic Movement of the Charismatic Renewal in our Archdiocese, the Community of the Casa del Migrante de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and for the Parish of St. Jude Thaddeus in the Municipality of Tecate where he served as parish priest".
Fr. José Guadalupe Rivas was born on December 10, 1964 in Torreón, Coahuila, the fourth of ten children. He was ordained a priest on October 29, 1994. He had been parish priest in various communities and had also held other offices. Since July 6, 2021 he was responsible for the migrant shelter in Tecate. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 19/5/2022)