A priest has been stabbed at the altar while celebrating Mass in Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral.
Fr Miguel Angel Machorro was stabbed three times during the attack on May 15, according to media reports. Witnesses said the attacker tried to slit the priest’s throat. Fr Machorro was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery. His condition was “delicate, but stable”.
In a tweet, Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera offered prayers for the injured priest, “so that he is healthy and returns to his normal duties”.
The suspect was arrested at the scene. Mexico City security officials said the suspect identified himself as John Rock Schild, an American citizen, “approximately 28 years old” and an artist. Some reports said that he was French.
The Metropolitan Cathedral is a popular stop for tourists. It faces Zocalo Square in central Mexico City and dates back to the 1500s. The police presence there is heavy due to the traffic and frequent protests in the vicinity. The archdiocese’s lawyer, Armando Martinez, said: “We cannot talk about terrorism, we cannot talk about motives because we obviously have no significant facts.”
More than 15 priests have been killed in Mexico in recent years, according to the country’s Catholic Multimedia Centre.
Some regions are “blighted by violence and drug trafficking”, according to the Centre, and violence against Catholics in has increased, with an “alarming” rise in attacks on priests since President Enrique Peña Nieto entered office in 2012.
Jesuit leader ‘signed letter praising Fidel Castro’
Jesuit superior general Fr Arturo Sosa allegedly signed a letter praising Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in 1989, according to new reports.Infovaticana said that before Castro’s visit to Venezuela that year, nearly 1,000 “intellectuals and artists” sent him a “manifesto” welcoming him to their country. The 810th name on the list is “Arturo Sosa, SJ” of the Centro Gumilla. Fr Sosa was the centre’s director at the time.
The letter begins: “We … wish to publicly express our respect for what you, as the main leader of the Cuban Revolution, have achieved for the dignity of your people and therefore for all Latin America.”
It continues: “Only ideological blindness can deny the place the process you represent occupies in the history of the liberation of our peoples.”
The letter also describes Castro’s overthrow of the Batista government as an “exemplary victory over tyranny, corruption and servitude”, with the signatories pledging to use him as an example in their hope of creating a “just, independent” Latin America.
Blessed John XXIII excommunicated Castro in 1962 for his suppression of the Church.
Keitel to star in Fatima film
Plans for a new film about the Fatima apparitions were unveiled at Cannes Film Festival last week.Arclight Films’ drama Fatima, currently in preproduction, will star Hollywood actors Harvey Keitel and Sonia Braga. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Gary Hamilton of Arclight said: “Fatima is a highly commercially viable film that remains true to its miraculous message.”
