SW News: Mexico witnessed an assassination attempt on a Catholic archbishop on Sunday, May 21. An elderly assassin tried to kill Archbishop Faustino Aremendariz Jimenez of Durango in the sacristy of the cathedral after the prelate offered High Mass.

The assailant wanted to murder the archbishop during the Eucharistic procession, but he did not get the chance. So, he patiently waited in the pews for the prelate to retire to the sacristy after Mass. After the Archbishop finished talking to a group of believers, the man went inside and asked him if he was the archbishop indeed. When Jimenez replied in the affirmative, the old man stabbed the prelate in the ribs.

However, the injury was not serious. Before he could make another attempt, a priest and sacristan pinned the attacker down before calling the police. They also found another knife in the backpack of the assailant.

The Archdiocesan statement says that the prelate is out of danger and is in a favorable physical condition. Archbishop Armendariz took to Twitter to thank God, the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Martyrs for having protected him from the attack. He said he feels the suffering of the people of Mexico which is experiencing polarization and violence.

Archbishop Jimenez said, “It seems to me that it is an opportunity to show solidarity with all the people who suffer, with all the people who experience this", the bishop pointed out.” He said that a complaint for attempted murder has been filed and he was gracious for the security cover offered by the authorities. The prelate also urged his brother bishops to “continue living and carrying out their pastoral work, but reinforcing security in churches.”

Archbishop Jimenez has been at the helm of the archdiocese since 2019 and has never been attacked before. However, when he was bishop of Matamoros, he had received several death threats. He served there for six years before moving to the Diocese of Queretaro. It was from there he was transferred to Durango.