Last month, Augustinian priest Javier García Villafaña was found shot to death in his car on a rural Mexican highway. This marked the ninth murder of a member of the clergy under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The recent attack underscores the violence and instability plaguing Mexico, as the government fails to mitigate the ongoing criminal savagery.
Citing U.S. officials, The Washington Post reported that a 2018 Central Intelligence Agency classified study found that about 20% of Mexico is controlled by drug-trafficking groups.