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, the Catholic Church news agency.
Father Salvador Ruiz Enciso had disappeared last weekend from his parish. 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 “Chava father, 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.
Parishioners at Divino Rostro church grew concerned when Ruiz Enciso did not show on a Monday to officiate at Mass. When they went to the priest’s residence, they found a mess and no sign of Ruiz Enciso. Reports indicated that money was missing from the church collection and a 2000 Ford Explorer owned by the parish. In addition authorities found child pornography in the residence.
Many believe the pornography was planted.
