By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, Worthy News
BOGOTA (Worthy News) – A major Christian advocacy group has asked Colombia’s government to urgently “conduct a full and coordinated investigation” into the disappearance of a Roman Catholic priest who was last seen on June 17.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) told Worthy News that Carlos Saúl Jaimes Guerrero, a 30-year-old priest serving in the Province of Our Lady of Grace of the Order of Saint Augustine in Colombia, disappeared while traveling.
He was on his way from the Hacienda Casacoima – “a space for worship and religious outreach under his pastoral care” – to the nearby stream in the rural area of Viotá Municipality, Cundinamarca Department, where he reportedly had an appointment, CSW said.
However, Christians said his vehicle was later found abandoned, with the engine still running, near a waterway in the rural area of La Unión. “There were no visible signs of violence, robbery, or forced entry. [However] he has not been seen since,” CSW added.
In a video shared publicly on June 21 Jaimes Guerrero’s mother Ana Mary Guerrero issued an emotional plea for information on her son’s whereabouts. “Please send us news about him, and contact the family. I’m desperate, I know nothing about him. Please, I need him returned safe and sound,” she said.
CSW cited its sources as saying that the Attorney General’s Office’s Urgent Search Mechanism (Mecanismo de Búsqueda Urgente –MBU), set up as a fast response tool for disappearance victims, has been activated.
Additionally, authorities in Viotá offered a reward of 10 million Colombian pesos ($2,485) for credible information leading to the priest’s discovery.
BROADER TREND
Jaimes Guerrero’s disappearance is part of a broader trend with at least eight “religious and social leaders” never returning from meetings, Christians said.
The eight were reportedly detained by an illegal armed group in the Calamar Municipality of the Guaviare Department, on April 4 and 5.
On July 1, the bodies of all eight individuals were discovered in a mass grave in a rural part of the municipality, CSW added.
It highlighted concerns that Christians and religious leaders who continue their work in areas under the control of illegal armed and criminal groups are at risk.
In 2023, the Colombian government amended Decree 1066 to remove “religious leaders” from receiving special protections.
However, CSW’s Director of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said, ‘We urge the Colombian government to strengthen its efforts to ensure a coordinated, prompt, and effective response from institutions at every level.’
Additionally Priest Jaimes Guerrero’s should face a “swift and safe return,” the statement said.
URGENT NEED
“We insist upon the urgent need for the government to remember its duty to prevent, protect, and investigate any targeting of religious and social leaders. We call on the government to reinstate religious leaders under Decree 1066, to ensure their access to government protection programs and security mechanisms,” CSW added.
Illegal armed groups in Colombia have added thousands of members and expanded their territorial control in the last three years, despite government efforts to negotiate ceasefires, according to investigators.
“Armed groups totaled 21,958 people – including combatants and auxiliaries – by the end of June, the report found, 45% more than the 15,120 estimated in mid-2022, when President Gustavo Petro took office.
This exceeds the 17% expansion from 12,833 registered during the four-year term of former President Ivan Duque.
The report found that armed groups grew 7% in the last year alone, adding 1,469 members.
“Christians who live in areas controlled by guerrilla groups or drug gangs are often pressured or targeted because their faith goes against the aims of the cartels,” said advocacy group Open Doors.
Church leaders are believed to be particularly targeted if they are seen as opponents to the drug trade, according to Christians. Open Doors has ranked Colombia 46th on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations where it says Christians face the most persecution.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Israel expanded its military campaign against Hezbollah on Monday, striking more than 70 targets across Lebanon as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to increase pressure on the Iranian-backed terror group following a sharp rise in drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel.
A federal appeals court is weighing whether Kansas City can use its public accommodation ordinance to require Christian counselors to counsel gay married couples despite the counselors’ biblical convictions on marriage and sexuality.
Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians gathered in the Netherlands for one of Europe’s largest multi-day Christian events, with organizers and participants expressing hopes for spiritual revival in the nation and across Europe.
President Donald Trump pushed back Monday against sharp criticism from Republicans and former administration officials over a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, insisting that any final accord must prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or it will not be signed.
President Donald Trump said Monday that countries involved in negotiations over Iran should be required to join the Abraham Accords, signaling that the White House is seeking to turn a possible Iran agreement into a wider regional realignment that includes normalization with Israel.
Tensions remained high in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Sunday after at least tens of thousands of people demanded elections and rallied against what they view as the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Aleksandar Vučić, with violence erupting after the protest and more than 20 people arrested.
Investigations were ongoing Sunday into the killing of three senior Kuki-Thadou Christian church leaders by unidentified gunmen in India’s northeastern Manipur State, Christian investigators told Worthy News.