Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Comboni Father John Ssenyondo

The remains of a missionary priest missing for months were recovered from a mass grave in the southern state of Guerrero, adding to the horror of the crimes and killings in a region now notorious for the disappearance and possible deaths of 43 teacher trainees.

Ugandan Comboni Father John Ssenyondo was found in a grave with six other bodies in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, according to a source quoted by Reuters. The source said Father Ssenyondo had refused to baptize the child of an alleged gangster.

The Centro Catolico Multimedial reported that Father Ssenyondo was abducted by armed assailants after celebrating a wedding April 30. It added that his remains were identified using dental records.

Attempts to reach Father Victor Manuel Aguilar, diocesan spokesman, were unsuccessful.

Father Aguilar previously told Catholic News Service that Father Ssenyondo had been working in a small parish near the city of Chilapa, 100 miles north of Acapulco, since 2010. He added that Father Ssenyondo had refused to pay extortion, which was demanded because he was believed to be receiving foreign funds.

The death again demonstrated the risks run by priests working in regions rife with organized-crime activities. The Centro Catolico Multimedial reports seven priests being murdered over the past two years. Another two priests are missing.

The discovery of Father Ssenyondo's remains comes as investigators and private search parties uncover unmarked graves across Guerrero state, where organized crime and drug cartels are accused of operating with impunity and infiltrating municipal governments.

It also follows news of 43 teacher trainees in Guerrero state going missing. Federal officials say police detained them and handed them over to gang members, who confessed to burning the bodies in a garbage dump.

Parents of the missing students reject that explanation and insist their children are alive.

 
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025
First-grade students finish an assignment at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Tucson, Ariz., in this 2014 photo. Arizona has one of the nation’s strongest school choice programs, with vouchers available to every child in the state. (CNS file photo/Nancy Wiechec)
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling denying state funds to a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. What should American Catholics be asking about public funding for school choice?
Beth BlaufussMay 23, 2025