AMERICA/MEXICO- The priest kidnapped last week was found dead

Tijuana (Agenzia Fides) - The Mexican priest Salvador Ruiz Enciso, who disappeared from his parish in the city of Tijuana, northern Mexico, near the border with the United States, was killed as informed by the Archbishop of Tijuana, Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz. The funeral was celebrated on Saturday, May 28 in the parish where he was pastor, dedicated to the "Divine Rostro de Jesus. " "We condemn the brutal manner in which he was killed and we have confidence in the authorities that those responsible will be brought to justice, " said the Archbishop of Tijuana in a statement sent to Fides.
Father Salvador Ruiz Enciso had disappeared last weekend from his parish (see Fides 26/5/2011). On Monday, May 23 the police had found in a neighborhood near Tijuana a body with hands and feet tied, unrecognizable. It was thought that it could be the dead body of the priest, so the DNA test was carried out. On Friday, May 27 Archbishop Romo Muñoz confirmed that it was him, and the statement underlined that the "Father Chava, as he was affectionately called, was a simple person and dedicated to his ministry. " In communities where he exercised his priestly ministry "he is remembered with affection and as a man of God, always correct in his behavior. " He had become popular for promoting the "Mass of the family", during which he used some puppets, which he handled with skill, to explain the Gospel in an understandable way to children. (EC) (Agenzia Fides 05/30/2011)