The bishops of Mexico decried the murder of Father José Guadalupe Rivas near Tecate (along the US border) and the killing of a three-year-old as gunmen chased and fired at a man who entered a church in Zacatecas State (in north-central Mexico).

“All the limits of violence and human respect are overcome when a man of God is attacked and another is attacked within the house of the Lord,” the bishops said. “We ask everyone once again to lay down their arms and put an end to all forms of violence, so that we can all be peacemakers.”