Colombian authorities said a Catholic priest from a town outside Medellín led paramilitary groups that committed rapes and massacres and persecuted evangelical ministers and believers. The priest, the Rev. Oscar Ortiz Henao, was arrested in mid-April. Prosecutors said Father Ortiz created a paramilitary group in the town of San Antonio de Prado. Colombia’s right-wing paramilitaries are notorious for human rights violations and “social cleansing” operations, which kill prostitutes, thieves, drug addicts and other “undesirables.” Father Ortiz was a popular figure in San Antonio del Prado. After his arrest, residents marched in protest. Many said the priest had helped cleanse the neighborhood of criminals and had created a school for poor children. A judge confined Father Ortiz to a residence for priests in Medellín while legal processes continue. Father Ortiz’s lawyer told media that the priest had contacts with illegal groups only during peace negotiations.
Colombia Captures Paramilitary Priest
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Around the affluent world, new hostility, resentment and anxiety has been directed at immigrant populations that are emerging as preferred scapegoats for all manner of political and socio-economic shortcomings.
“Each day is becoming more difficult, but we do not surrender,” Father Igor Boyko, 48, the rector of the Greek Catholic seminary in Lviv, told Gerard O’Connell. “To surrender means we are finished.”
Many have questioned how so many Latinos could support a candidate like DonaldTrump, who promised restrictive immigration policies. “And the answer is that, of course, Latinos are complicated people.”
Catholic voters were a crucial part of Donald J. Trump’s re-election as president. But did misogyny and a resistance to women in power cause Catholic voters to disregard the common good?