Hooded men attacked a Eucharistic adoration chapel in Mexico on Holy Saturday morning, assaulting worshippers, stealing their belongings and making off with a ciborium containing consecrated hosts.

The attack took place at the chapel of San Lucas Cuauhtelulpan in the Diocese of Tlaxcala on April 4. The perpetrators threatened and beat the faithful who were maintaining the adoration vigil before stripping them of their personal possessions.

Bishop Julio Salcedo Aquino issued a statement condemning the incident in the strongest terms. "We deplore this incident, above all for the lives and physical and spiritual well-being of the people who suffered this outrage," he said.

The bishop stressed the particular gravity of the theft of the Blessed Sacrament, placing it among the most serious offences against the Catholic faith. "These events wound us deeply, for among the offences committed against the Catholic faith, the theft of the Eucharist constitutes one of the most grave," he said.

Under canon law, the deliberate theft or profanation of the Eucharist carries an automatic penalty of excommunication — one of the most severe sanctions the Church can impose, reserved for offences it considers uniquely damaging to the faith. Those who commit such acts are excluded from receiving the sacraments and participating in the Church's public worship until the penalty is lifted by competent authority.

Bishop Salcedo drew a poignant parallel between the theft and the Easter narrative, likening the diocese's experience to that of Mary Magdalene arriving at Christ's tomb on Easter morning to find it empty. The diocese, he said, stood in solidarity with her experience of loss and bewilderment.

In response, Bishop Salcedo has directed all parish priests across the diocese to organise "Days of Eucharistic Prayer" in reparation for the offence. A formal rite of reparation has been scheduled for April 11 at the Church of San Lucas Cuauhtelulpan, to be presided over by the bishop himself.

He called on the faithful to pray for the conversion of the perpetrators and for the safe return of the stolen Eucharist. No arrests have been reported in connection with the incident.