Members of Actívate (Get Active) deliver more than 33,000 signatures to the Mexican Ministry of the Interior (SEGOB) and the attorney general’s office Aug. 24, 2022, demanding justice for two Jesuit priests murdered in June. / Photo credit: Get Active

Denver Newsroom, Aug 26, 2022 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

The Mexican platform Actívate (Get Active) on Aug. 24 delivered more than 33,000 signatures to the Ministry of the Interior and the federal attorney general’s office, demanding justice for two Jesuit priests who were murdered in June.

The signatures were collected through the virtual platform activate.org.mx.

Jesuit priests Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín César Mora Salazar were gunned down inside a church in the town of Cerocahui in the Sierra Tarahumara area of the state of Chihuahua on June 20. Along with them, Pedro Eliodoro Palma Gutiérrez, a local businessman, was also killed.

So far, the authorities have captured more than a dozen alleged members of the crime gang to which the gunman accused of killing the two Jesuit priests belongs, but they have not managed to arrest the murderer.

Standing in front of the federal offices, José Ángel Soubervielle, director of Actívate, said that “unfortunately the demand for justice remains a silent cry of society.”

“That’s why we went to these agencies to tell the authorities that outside the doors of their offices there are many people who are crying out for true peace and tranquility,” he said.

Soubervielle stressed that “true justice will only be achieved when the authorities capture those who directly killed the Jesuit priests and the tour guide.”

“That’s why the impunity that still prevails around this crime is undeniable, which allows them to continue operating at will against a society that is already sick and tired of so many deaths and insecurity,” he charged.

The Mexican authorities have designated José Noriel Portillo Gil, alias “El Chueco,” as the murderer of the Jesuit priests and the Mexican businessman. The Chihuahua state attorney general’s office has offered a reward of up to 5 million pesos (about $250,000) for information leading to his capture.

It is estimated that the first three and a half years of the current administration of President López Obrador have been the most violent period on record in the history of Mexico, with more than 120,000 homicides.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.