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Father Clemente Morales was beaten and burned: “Speeches and statistics are not enough,” warns bishop of Culiacán
The diocese says the priest was repeatedly threatened with death during three days in captivity. Prosecutors are investigating his unlawful detention but have not publicly identified those responsible.
CHURCH IN MEXICO
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
11/3/20263 min read
Father Clemente Morales Topete, pastor of Cristo Resucitado parish in Culiacán. In a letter dated November 1, 2026, the diocese said he had been beaten, burned and threatened with death while in captivity.
CULIACÁN, Mexico.- He was beaten and suffered severe burns. For three days, he was held captive and repeatedly threatened with death. That is what Bishop Jesús José Herrera Quiñónez of Culiacán reported about Father Clemente Morales Topete in a circular letter dated November 1.
According to the diocese, unidentified people took the pastor of Cristo Resucitado parish on the afternoon of Saturday, October 24, and brought him to an unknown location. His captors demanded information he did not have. He was released on Tuesday, October 27, and drove his own vehicle back to the parish.
Father Clemente’s return alive had already been announced. What is new in the bishop’s letter is the severity of the abuse: the diocese said he had bruises and burns on different parts of his body and needed specialized medical care. The bishop also warned of the emotional and psychological effects of the threats.
On October 30, Sinaloa’s attorney general, Claudia Zulema Sánchez Kondo, confirmed that the priest had injuries and had given a statement to authorities. She said an investigation into unlawful detention had been opened and that Morales had been discharged from medical care. The diocese’s later letter said he remained under medical observation. It has not been publicly clarified whether the two statements refer to different stages of his treatment.
Father Clemente Morales Topete disappeared in Culiacán on October 24 and returned to his parish on his own three days later. Violence has also reached Mexico’s clergy: the tally reviewed documents one priest murdered so far in 2026, Father Román de la Cruz Hernández, while the secretary general of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference spoke of five priests murdered over the past two years. Three others remain missing in cases reported in 2012, 2013 and 2025. As of October 30, 2026, Mexico’s National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons listed 130,869 people who remained missing or unlocated.
Herrera Quiñónez thanked the authorities for their efforts to bring the priest home alive, but called for the attack to be fully investigated and for tangible results against the violence affecting other families in Sinaloa. “Speeches and statistics are not enough,” he warned, calling for greater protection for the public and effective investigations.
The bishop urged people not to accuse anyone without evidence or spread claims that could hinder the investigation. The captors’ identities and the motive for the attack have not been publicly established.
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