Mexican Archdiocese Hits Back

From CNA:

Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 20, 2010 / 05:50 pm (CNA).- The spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City, Father Hugo Valdemar, has refused to retract his statement that the city's mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, has done more harm to the Mexican capital than the drug cartels. The priest also claimed that the lawsuit Ebrard filed against him is evidence of the mayor’s “fascist” actions.
In an interview with the Archdiocese of Mexico City’s news service, Fr. Valdemar said the law on abortion in the Mexican capital, supported by Ebrard and passed by the Legislative Assembly in 2007, is a sign of the harm he has caused the city.
“Ever since the criminal law on abortion was passed,” more than 42,000 innocent human beings have been killed in Mexico City, he said. “This is double the number that have died in the war against the drug cartels, and yet these crimes are even worse, because the children killed are unable to defend themselves.”
Fr. Valdemar said the lawsuit filed against him by Ebrard has revealed the mayor's true nature as an “intolerant governor with great hatred for the Catholic Church, her pastors” and that he is “consumed by vengeance.”
On Wednesday, the mayor filed a defamation lawsuit against Fr. Valdemar as well as Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez for accusing Ebrard of bribing the country's Supreme Court justices to allow the adoption of children by same-sex couples.
Fr. Valdemar added that Catholics in Mexico City are enduring a sophisticated religious persecution that is aimed at repressing freedom of expression. “Ebrard has made public his fascist style of governing and his undeniable desire to persecute the Catholic Church,” the priest said, underscoring that the governor is acting like another “Francisco Franco or Augusto Pinochet.”

 Harsh words, but certainly justified.  From what I've been reading, the whole thing smacks of an attempt to silence the Archdiocese over the issue.  Unfortunately for the government, they've come out swinging.

RIP Father Carlos Wotto

From CNA via Father Z's blog:

Catholic priest found dead in Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico, Jul 30, 2010 / 02:02 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- Local authorities have reported that a priest, Fr. Carlos Salvador Wotto, was found dead at the parish of Our Lady of the Snows in Oaxaca, Mexico. Signs of torture were evident on the priest’s body.

The 83-year-old Fr. Wotto was found bound and gagged inside his office. He had a bag over his head and cigarette burns on various parts of his body. Authorities have not ruled out that Fr. Wotto died from asphyxiation nor that the motive was robbery.

José Barragán, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Antequera confirmed that the priest’s body showed signs of torture. However, Barragán would release no further details. “We must wait until the investigation is concluded. Any commentary would be irresponsible.”

“We are all shocked,” he told the Mexican daily, La Jornada.

Several parishioners reported that they were waiting for the priest to arrive to celebrate the 6 p.m. Mass at the parish, which is located in the heart of the city. When the priest did not show up, they went to his office to search for him. It was there that they found his body.

A woman, who asked not to be identified, swore that shortly after 5 p.m. someone showed up at the priest’s office to give him a jello dessert. When the person knocked, Fr. Wotto responded through the closed door and asked that the dessert be left outside his office

Please pray for the soul of this priest, and the conversion of his murderer or murderers.  Whoever did this was sick in the heart and needs the grace of Jesus Christ badly.

PRAYER FOR A DECEASED PRIEST
O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, Fr. Carlos Salvador Wotto, to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchisedech, giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.