{"id":18763,"date":"2017-03-17T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-17T02:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina-18010\/"},"modified":"2017-03-17T02:01:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T02:01:00","slug":"priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Cross_at_church_Credit_SAgi_ElemAr_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he's received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel.<\/p>\n<p>The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been\u00a0 serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to \u201cprotect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People's Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez,<br>\nfrom the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by \u201ctransas,\u201d persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house.<\/p>\n<p>A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began.<\/p>\n<p>The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that \u201cin recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi\u00f1arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi\u00e1n S\u00e1enz, warned of the rise in \u201cin the illegal drug trade\u201d along with the \u201cdangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,\u201d and the \u201cbrutal confrontations for the control of territory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The message noted that work in the prevention of \u201cdrug addiction\u201d often \u201ccollide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened \u201cbecause of their brave opposition to evil\u201d and joined with \u201cthose who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In this regard, \u201cthe voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality.<\/p>\n<p>The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that \u201cFather Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=GuGcOtftQ1k:BbgyvqGDNU4:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/GuGcOtftQ1k\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Cross_at_church_Credit_SAgi_ElemAr_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he&#8217;s received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel.<\/p>\n<p>The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People&#8217;s Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez,<br \/>\nfrom the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house.<\/p>\n<p>A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began.<\/p>\n<p>The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality.<\/p>\n<p>The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that &ldquo;Father Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=GuGcOtftQ1k:BbgyvqGDNU4:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/GuGcOtftQ1k\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-americas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he&#039;s received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel. The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo; The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People&#039;s Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez, from the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house. A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began. The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo; &ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read. The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo; The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo; The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo; In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo; The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016. Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality. The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that &ldquo;Father Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.&rdquo;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he&#039;s received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel. The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo; The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People&#039;s Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez, from the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house. A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began. The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo; &ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read. The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo; The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo; The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo; In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo; The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016. Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality. The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that &ldquo;Father Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.&rdquo;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-17T02:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Cross_at_church_Credit_SAgi_ElemAr_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/\",\"name\":\"Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-17T02:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-17T02:01:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he's received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel. The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo; The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People's Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez, from the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house. A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began. The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo; &ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read. The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo; The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo; The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo; In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo; The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016. Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality. 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The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo; The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People's Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez, from the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house. A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began. The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo; &ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read. The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo; The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo; The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo; In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo; The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016. Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality. The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that &ldquo;Father Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.&rdquo;","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina","og_description":"Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he's received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel. The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo; The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People's Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez, from the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house. A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began. The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo; &ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read. The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo; The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo; The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo; In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo; The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016. Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality. The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that &ldquo;Father Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.&rdquo;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-03-17T02:01:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Cross_at_church_Credit_SAgi_ElemAr_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/","name":"Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-17T02:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-17T02:01:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 16, 2017 \/ 08:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A diocese in Argentina has decided to transfer a priest after a series of threats he's received for protesting the death of a man who had been killed by a drug cartel. The Diocese of Merlo-Moreno in Argentina relocated Father Eduardo Farrell, who has been&nbsp; serving for nine years as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in the Cuartel Quinto municipality in Buenos Aires in order to &ldquo;protect his physical integrity in face of repeated threats and intimidation.&rdquo; The events trace back to Dec. 15, 2016, when the People's Dignity Movement activist, Cesar Mendez, from the Cuartel Quinto neighborhood, was shot dead by &ldquo;transas,&rdquo; persons connected to the drug world, who had taken over a house. A week later, the neighbors organized a peaceful march in the Buenos Aires area locality to call for justice for the death of Mendez. Fr. Farrell was the only speaker on that occasion, and from then on the intimidation began. The statement from the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno released March 13, said that &ldquo;in recent times numerous persons, believers or not, Church activists or not, have received clear signals that their actions and preaching entailed a nuisance to sectors which operate outside the law.&rdquo; &ldquo;With great concern and deep pain we observe how violence, in its most varied manifestations, is being normalized in our communities. Every day we learn of violent incidents, some extremely serious, such as the loss of human lives,&rdquo; the statement read. The message, signed by the Bishop of Merlo-Moreno, Fernando Carlos Maletti; Auxiliary Bishop, Oscar Eduardo Mi&ntilde;arro; and Vicar General, Fr. Fabi&aacute;n S&aacute;enz, warned of the rise in &ldquo;in the illegal drug trade&rdquo; along with the &ldquo;dangerous deterioration of the health of our youth,&rdquo; and the &ldquo;brutal confrontations for the control of territory.&rdquo; The message noted that work in the prevention of &ldquo;drug addiction&rdquo; often &ldquo;collide with the petty and evil interests of those who only seek territorial power and income at any cost.&rdquo; The National Justice and Peace Commission expressed solidarity with the people being threatened &ldquo;because of their brave opposition to evil&rdquo; and joined with &ldquo;those who honestly and disinterestedly seek to overcome the evils in our society.&rdquo; In this regard, &ldquo;the voice of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno is brave and prophetic because neither indifference nor fear closes their eyes or silences their words in the face of injustice.&rdquo; The drug trafficking problem in Argentina already claimed a victim from the clergy of this country in October 2016. Fr. Juan Heraldo Viroche, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in Tucuman, was found hanged to death in the rectory after he started publicly denouncing in his homilies the drug gangs in his locality. The incident led the priests who work in the shantytowns of Buenos Aires to state that &ldquo;Father Viroche was killed by the mafia he denounced and who threatened him.&rdquo;","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/priest-relocated-over-threats-from-drug-lords-in-argentina\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Priest relocated over threats from drug lords in Argentina"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}