By Walter Sánchez Silva, Diego López Marina
May 6, 2025
06:34 p. m.
May. 6, 2025
06:34 p. m.
Cardinal Carlos Castillo, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru, expressed from Rome his “immense pain” for the kidnapping and murder of 13 miners at the hands of organized crime, a fact linked to illegal mining in northern Peru.
“It is an immense pain for me to address you today, knowing that thirteen of our brothers have been vilely killed in Pataz,” said the purple in a video posted on YouTube.
Receive the main news of ACI press by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social networks. Subscribe to our free channels today:
“I address you very sorry because I cannot be present at this time, since we are very close to the conclave, and tomorrow we are already locked up to choose the new Pope,” added the archbishop of Lima.
“Pope Francis always reminded us that solidarity and closeness to our people must be priority,” especially before this fact that makes our entire country suffer. “
After drawing attention to the authorities and asking for their help, Castillo commented that “our task is also to help promote our people to organize. The popular organization has always been fundamental for a country to progress, and, above all, it is in our hands.”
“I bless you from here, to all the families who must cry at their thirteen dead girls, precisely for working, for their lives, for their families,” he said.
-
“You will not kill”
For their part, the bishops of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference today published a statement in which they express their “deep sadness and dismay for these criminal acts of organized crime, which deeply hurt human dignity and social peace.”
“We deplore by energetically these abominable murders and invoke the authorities of the judicial and fiscal system that accelerate investigations and establish individual responsibilities, within the framework of due process,” they urged.
“As a church, we reiterate our call to build a society where life is respected, the dignity of every person is protected and development with justice, honesty and love of neighbor is achieved,” concluded the bishops.
Murder of 13 miners in Peru
The murder of 13 people in a mine in the town of Pataz, province of the region of La Libertad, has shocked Peru and places again the insecurity conditions in which many work.
The bodies of the 13 miners, of the powerful company, were found on Sunday, May 4, after being kidnapped on April 25, in an attack perpetrated by criminals linked to informal mining that dominates the area.
The mining company has denounced that illegal mining has taken over a large part of its facilities, despite the state of emergency and the deployment of 800 police officers in an operation carried out last week.
According to BBC, armed attacks and deaths in mines of Peru have increased and powerful denounced that there are already 39 “collaborators, artisanal miners and workers finalized” by the criminal groups that control the area.
Peru has a great mining wealth. It is one of the largest gold producers on the planet and contributes about 4% of world production.
Many of the illegal mining farms are in the mountains or the jungle, where the forces of the order are not or have little presence.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.
Diego López Marina
I was born in 1991. I have a degree in Communication Sciences. Since 2015 I work as a digital journalist. I started my career in the newspaper El Comercio in Peru. In 2016, I began as editor in ACI Press and I perform as a web editor since 2018. From 2024, I write the Newsletter for Social Media. I specialize in Catholic news focused on the defense of life and family, international politics, technology, popular culture and the Vatican.
