The Catholic Multimedia Center (CCM) issued a statement deeply regretting the forced displacement of the priest Filiberto Velázquez Florencio, known as «Father Fili», from the diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa in Guerrero. This fact, according to the CCM, aggravates the crisis of violence in Mexico that affects human rights and the priestly ministry, impacting entire communities. The director of the CCM, Father Omar Sotelo Aguilar, expressed solidarity with Velázquez and called on the authorities to guarantee security and stability in the country.
Velázquez’s displacement occurred at the end of December 2025, following a series of direct threats from organized crime, which culminated in his forced departure from Guerrero. According to statements from the bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, José de Jesús González Hernández, confirmed on January 4, 2026, the priest was temporarily relocated to Chiapas for security reasons. Initially, exile in Canada was considered due to the lack of guarantees in the state, but a national option was chosen to keep him close to his pastoral work. González emphasized that the Church does not seek «martyrs,» but «living priests» to continue their mission.
The circumstances of the displacement are linked to Velázquez’s outstanding work as a human rights defender and mediator in armed conflicts. As director of the Minerva Bello Center for the Rights of Victims of Violence, founded in 2018, he has accompanied victims of forced disappearances, internal displacements, and armed violence in the Central region and Sierra of Guerrero. His role as a peace facilitator exposed him to extreme risks: in 2024, he mediated truces between rival criminal groups such as Los Ardillos, Los Tlacos (or Sierra Cartel) and La Familia Michoacana, stopping confrontations that caused dozens of deaths and paralyzed public services in municipalities like Chilpancingo and Chilapa.
However, this activity generated reprisals. On October 10, 2023, Velázquez suffered an armed attack on the Tixtla-Chilpancingo highway, where his vehicle was shot at. After the incident, the federal government assigned him a National Guard escort through the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. Despite this, Bishop González described the protection as «insufficient,» arguing that it did not deter persistent threats. In May 2024, Velázquez reported intimidation by Mexican Army soldiers, and he noted being followed by armed men even in Chiapas, where he was seeking temporary refuge.
Additionally, a smear campaign worsened his situation. Social media linked to the Chilpancingo city hall falsely accused him of ties to armed actors, which Velázquez rejected in a Facebook post on October 30, 2025, affirming his exclusive commitment to peace and holding the authorities responsible for his safety. Ecclesiastical sources indicate that these defamations came from political spheres, possibly to delegitimize his work. The Los Ardillos group, in particular, has been pointed out by Velázquez as responsible for direct pressures that forced him to flee, as he revealed in an interview with Aristegui Noticias.
This case is not isolated, as the CCM highlights in its statement. For more than a decade, the center has documented aggressions against the Catholic clergy in Mexico. Among the victims are Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, archbishop of Guadalajara, murdered in 1993; 62 priests; one deacon; and 23 laypeople, including a Catholic journalist. Three priests remain missing. Recently, in October 2025, Father Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada was murdered in Guerrero, adding to a list that reflects the rise in violence against parishes and communities, violating freedom of worship.
The CCM attributes this crisis to a «social decomposition» aggravated by corruption, impunity and absence of the rule of law, where de facto powers supplant legitimate authority. It criticizes the State for abdicating its obligation to provide justice and security, while the Church seeks to rebuild the social fabric. The Mexican bishops, in their November 2025 message, warned: «We cannot continue to remain silent and ignore these realities of violence and death; of insecurity and instability.» Velázquez represents thousands of displaced people in Mexico, but his case as a priest implies abandoning communities, generating spiritual and social instability.
In recent interviews with media outlets, Velázquez confirmed that the threats are not new, but they became unsustainable. «We are caught up in the fray for seeking reconciliation, and we come out affected», said Bishop González.
The CCM concludes its statement with an urgent call to federal, state, and municipal authorities to allocate resources against forced displacement, considered abnormal and not circumstantial. It expresses hope in Christ as «king of peace» and solidarity with all those affected by violence. This episode underscores the urgency of protecting defenders like Velázquez, whose work is vital in a Mexico fractured by organized crime.
The full statement can be read below:
Catholic Multimedia Center
January 8, 2026
To the public opinion,
In response to the forced displacement of Father Filiberto Velázquez, a priest of the diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, the Catholic Multimedia Center deeply regrets this aggravation of violence that harms human rights and the priestly ministry, impacting communities and the pastoral work carried out by Father Fili for the good of many Catholic faithful and men and women, regardless of their religious belief.
For more than a decade, the Catholic Multimedia Center has documented the series of aggressions, attacks, and, unfortunately, homicides against the Catholic clergy. When beginning to document these events, some affirmed, even from the ecclesiastical hierarchy itself, that they were isolated events with no relation whatsoever to the ministry and priestly work.
However, a cardinal, Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, archbishop of Guadalajara, 62 priests, one deacon, and 23 laypeople, among them a Catholic journalist, have been murdered in Mexico, in addition to having no news about the whereabouts of three priests.
This is compounded by an alarming rise in violence against communities and parishes, violating the security of ministers and faithful, also implying an attack on freedom of worship when Catholic faithful have suffered violence in the bosom of places that should be precincts of peace.
We are living through a period of our modern history that is extremely concerning. Violence is the product of a decomposition and insensitivity and the lack of respect for the most vulnerable. Mexico is experiencing an unprecedented decay aggravated by corruption and impunity covered up by the absence of the rule of law and governance by law. Authority has been supplanted by other powers that seek to rule and govern above the law.
The Catholic Church in Mexico seeks to build peace and collaborate in repairing the social fabric; however, the State has shown itself to be failed, abdicating its main obligation: to guarantee justice and provide security.
The displacement of Father Fili is one of the thousands that have occurred throughout the country, and the bishops of Mexico have denounced it as such. But in a priest, it implies a double issue: Leaving his place of origin and abandoning a community are signs of instability that hurt and violate Catholic communities.
And this is a call to the authorities at all levels of government to commit resources and actions to provide stability to a Republic that is cracking. No forced displacement is normal nor should it be seen as merely circumstantial; it is the State’s duty to ensure security for Father Fili and prevent actions that once again mourn any Catholic community.
As the bishops of Mexico rightly stated in their message to the People of God last November: We cannot continue to remain silent and ignore these realities of violence and death; of insecurity and instability, of fragmentation and cracking; of mourning and pain. “Priests, nuns, pastoral agents, even some politicians who seek to change this situation have been threatened and murdered in the face of citizen impotence.”
From the Catholic Multimedia Center, we send our deepest gesture of solidarity, united in faith and hope, for the good of Father Fili and his priestly ministry. And to all the bishops, priests, and pastoral agents who, at this moment, suffer or endure some type of violence that endangers their life and integrity. Christ, king of peace, be our reconciliation and hope.
Fr. Omar Sotelo Aguilar, SSP
CCM Director