#Mexico – The body of the Rev. Fr. Román de la Cruz Hernández, the 48-year-old pastor of Santa Cruz parish in Huejutla de Reyes, Hidalgo, was found on the morning of Sept. 15, 2026, along a rural stretch of the Tolago–Tetlapaya highway at the boundary of Lolotla and Tlanchinol. He had been shot multiple times. The discovery came as Mexico marked Independence Day observances.
Investigators said the priest was found face down in roadside vegetation. A sign or cardboard message, which local media described as a threat or so-called narco-message, had been placed on his back. Authorities did not release the wording. A burgundy Toyota Tacoma pickup with Baja California license plates was recovered at the scene. The Hidalgo state attorney general’s office opened a homicide investigation. No arrests were announced in the days that followed, and officials did not publicly confirm a motive.
De la Cruz Hernández was born July 28, 1978, in Mazahuacán, in the municipality of Lolotla. He was ordained on December 18, 2006. Since September 2024 he had served as the first diocesan pastor of Santa Cruz, a community of about 1,500 people in the Huasteca region, and he coordinated the Diocese of Huejutla’s Commission for Prophetic Pastoral Ministry.
The Diocese of Huejutla and the Mexican Bishops’ Conference condemned the killing and called the country’s violence “alarming.” Bishop José Hiraís Acosta Beltrán asked the faithful not to speculate so that investigators could work, and he urged authorities to carry out a thorough inquiry “so that this event, and other crimes that have wounded our nation, do not go unpunished.” The bishops’ conference issued a similar demand for swift justice.
Reporting placed the parish in an area where criminal groups have competed over fuel-theft routes. In August, about a month before the priest was killed, the same diocese had warned that criminals were using priests’ phone numbers to impersonate clergy and solicit money from parishioners. Officials did not say whether that scheme was connected to the homicide. Catholic tracking groups counted the case among a series of priest killings in Mexico in recent years, including several after October 2024.
As of September 20th, residents of Huejutla held a pilgrimage and farewell for Father de la Cruz. An altar was set up at Santa Cruz parish. Marchers demanded that the crime not go unpunished. The state prosecutor’s office said investigative lines remained open. Five days after the body was found, no suspects had been publicly identified.
Cover Image: Román de la Cruz Hernández (July 28, 1978 – September 15, 2026).
