Friday, April 4, 2025

Mexico City priest arrested for murder of student, church deacon

A priest wanted in connection with the murder of 29-year-old deacon Leonardo Avendaño has been arrested by Mexico City police.

Francisco Javier Bautista Ávalos, parish priest at the Cristo Salvador church in the Tlalpan borough of Mexico City where the victim was a deacon, had reported Avendaño’s disappearance to the deacon’s family on June 11.

After Avendaño was found dead in his pickup truck the next day, Bautista led the victim’s funeral service, and expressed hope that the murderer would be caught.

“We are sad, but at the same time, we have faith, and it gives us strength to know that he is with God,” said Bautista at the service.

But after interviewing the priest, police began noting inconsistencies in his testimony, and after reviewing messages on Avendaño’s cellphone discovered that the two had met the night Avendaño went missing. Police began searching for the priest on June 16.

Today, a judge ordered that he be held in preventative custody.

Authorities indicated that the motive for the crime was a personal conflict, but Avendaño’s family say that the murder was premeditated, and was an attempt to prevent Avendaño from going public with certain accusations.

The Archdiocese of Mexico released a statement promising to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation.

“The Catholic Church in Mexico City trusts that the work of the authorities tasked with the investigation and prosecution will be effective, rigorous and respectful of the law and human rights of the victims, the families and those who are eventually charged with the crime,” read the statement.

Avendaño had recently graduated from the Intercontinental University with a master’s degree in psychoanalysis. He had previously completed a bachelor’s degree in theology from the same institution, and he had hoped to study to become a priest himself.

Mexico City Attorney General Ernestina Godoy will hold a press conference today where she will make public more details of the case.

Supporters of the jailed priest protested today in Mexico City carrying placards to demand his release. “We are with you, Father,” read one.

Source: Milenio (sp), Animal Político (sp), El Universal (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum stands at the presidential podium looking out at an audience off-camera with her fist raised and her mouth open as if cheering. Behind her is a wall with the words in Spanish: Plan Mexico, Strenghtening the Economy and Well-Being, Mexico City April 3, 2025.

Sheinbaum unveils an even more ambitious version of her transformative Plan México

15
Sheinbaum said the projects she announced as part of Plan México will bring about more well-paid employment, less poverty and inequality, greater investment and production and more innovation.
A clear-cut strip of land cuts through the jungle along the Maya Train route in Yucatán

Government promises restoration plan for Maya Train environmental damage

1
Government officials said the track's builders will be responsible for funding a restoration effort that includes reforestation and improving natural migration corridors.
Cans of Cororna Extra beer lying on a bed of large ice cubes

Trump announces new US tariffs on Mexican… beer

15
Mexico didn't end up on Donald Trump's "liberation day" list of enemy countries, although the U.S. did impose tariffs on a surprising Mexican item: beer in cans.