Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 7, 2007 / 09:42 am
Church officials in Mexico, thousands of faithful, and the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, have strongly condemned the media coverage of the death of American missionary Fr. Richard Junius Sander who was killed on July 29 for denouncing a nearby popular club frequented by young people.
Fr. Sander was discovered by police in his room after a fire broke out in his parish. He was found strangled, with his feet and hands tied.
Some Mexican media reports suggested the killing was the result of “sexual misconduct” by the priest, a claim that has been strongly rejected by the faithful and by Father Sander’s congregation.
In a joint letter, the provincial superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Fr. Vicente Louwagie, and the Parish Council of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe expressed “their indignation over the morbid and perverse reporting that some journalists have given to the violent death of Reverend Father Ricardo Junius Sander.”