Protestant pastor expelled for refusing to participate in Catholic ritual in Mexico

Officials in a village in southern Mexico’s Oaxaca state detained for five days and then expelled a Protestant pastor for refusing to participate in Catholic church rituals, according to a U.K-based advocacy group.

In Santiago Malacatepec, San Juan Mazatlán Municipality in eastern Oaxaca, local Catholics on Jan. 15 ordered Pastor Mariano Velásquez Martínez to light candles, kneel and pray to an image of St. James as part of the village’s Roman Catholic festival, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported.



Pastor Velásquez Martínez had accepted a leadership position in the community on the understanding that he would be required only to provide candles and flowers for the Catholic festival, according to CSW. When he refused to kneel and pray to the image, a festival leader complained to village leaders.

“Ignoring the terms of the original agreement, the local authorities detained Pastor Velásquez Martínez for five days,” CSW stated. “He was then bound with a rope and taken before an assembly of about 180 men, where an announcement was made by the village authorities that he was to be expelled.”