{"id":19039,"date":"2017-04-01T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T12:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated-10370\/"},"modified":"2017-04-01T12:02:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T12:02:00","slug":"kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/","title":{"rendered":"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated"},"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\/size340\/Priest_during_wedding_ceremony_Credit_vivver_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A priest in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Oscar L\u00f3pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Jos\u00e9 Luis Dibildox Mart\u00ednez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L\u00f3pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle's door.<\/p>\n<p>The priest was released the morning of March 30.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,\u201d he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFr. Oscar is well, we're all well,\u201d he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L\u00f3pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially \u201cto give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Mexican bishops' conference expressed their joy \u201cfor the safe liberation and the health of Fr.\u00a0 Oscar L\u00f3pez Navarro \u2026. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L\u00f3pez' kidnapping was \u201cthe first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered.<\/p>\n<p>And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=lApfHtmUcLw:pcNoA1ubDAA: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\/lApfHtmUcLw\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Priest_during_wedding_ceremony_Credit_vivver_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A priest in Mexico&#8217;s state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle&#8217;s door.<\/p>\n<p>The priest was released the morning of March 30.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we&#8217;re all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Mexican bishops&#8217; conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez&#8217; kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered.<\/p>\n<p>And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=lApfHtmUcLw:pcNoA1ubDAA: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\/lApfHtmUcLw\" 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-19039","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>Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A priest in Mexico&#039;s state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case. Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico. Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle&#039;s door. The priest was released the morning of March 30. Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release. &ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico. Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator. &ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we&#039;re all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo; The Mexican bishops&#039; conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo; Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez&#039; kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo; Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered. And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.\" \/>\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\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A priest in Mexico&#039;s state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case. Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico. Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle&#039;s door. The priest was released the morning of March 30. Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release. &ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico. Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator. &ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we&#039;re all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo; The Mexican bishops&#039; conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo; Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez&#039; kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo; Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered. And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-01T12:02:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Priest_during_wedding_ceremony_Credit_vivver_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=\"2 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\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/\",\"name\":\"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-01T12:02:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-01T12:02:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A priest in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case. Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico. Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle's door. The priest was released the morning of March 30. Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release. &ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico. Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator. &ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we're all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo; The Mexican bishops' conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo; Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez' kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo; Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered. And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated\"}]},{\"@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\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated","description":"Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A priest in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case. Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico. Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle's door. The priest was released the morning of March 30. Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release. &ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico. Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator. &ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we're all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo; The Mexican bishops' conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo; Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez' kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo; Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered. And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.","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\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated","og_description":"Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A priest in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case. Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico. Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle's door. The priest was released the morning of March 30. Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release. &ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico. Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator. &ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we're all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo; The Mexican bishops' conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo; Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez' kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo; Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered. And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-04-01T12:02:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/size340\/Priest_during_wedding_ceremony_Credit_vivver_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/","name":"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-04-01T12:02:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-01T12:02:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Tampico, Mexico, Apr 1, 2017 \/ 06:02 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A priest in Mexico's state of Tamaulipas who had been abducted earlier this week was freed on Thursday after media pressure on the case. Fr. Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro, a member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, was kidnapped March 28 as he was arriving at his parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Altamira, fewer than 20 miles north of Tampico. Bishop Jos&eacute; Luis Dibildox Mart&iacute;nez of Tampico told news outlets that Fr. L&oacute;pez, 40, had been followed by the criminals, and when he arrived in his car at the church he was kidnapped as he soon as he opened the vehicle's door. The priest was released the morning of March 30. Fr. Servando Nieto, a fellow member of the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator, indicated that media pressure in wake of the kidnapping contributed to his release. &ldquo;A great deal of solidarity was felt from the various dioceses in the country and from the media, which showed a lot of interest in the case,&rdquo; he said, according to Archdiocese of Mexico. Fr. Nieto also explained that those in charge of the negotiations were two religious from the Missionaries of Christ the Mediator. &ldquo;Fr. Oscar is well, we're all well,&rdquo; he said, adding that it is now important that Fr. L&oacute;pez have a chance to settle down after his ordeal so he can continue to carry out his work, but especially &ldquo;to give thanks to God because he has been freed and to thank all the people for their financial support and for their prayers.&rdquo; The Mexican bishops' conference expressed their joy &ldquo;for the safe liberation and the health of Fr.&nbsp; Oscar L&oacute;pez Navarro &hellip;. We lament that as a society we continue to be affected by violence. We thank everyone for their prayers, solidarity, and closeness.&rdquo; Bishop Dibildox told media that Fr. L&oacute;pez' kidnapping was &ldquo;the first time this has happened in the Diocese of Tampico.&rdquo; Drug trafficking has led to increased murder and kidnapping in Mexico, with priests not unaffected. In recent years, 17 priests in the country have been murdered. And Tamaulipas, a border state with the United States, is the base of operations for the Gulf Cartel, which organizes drug trafficking, protection rackets, murder, extortion, and kidnapping.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/04\/kidnapped-priest-in-mexico-liberated\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kidnapped priest in Mexico liberated"}]},{"@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\/19039","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=19039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}