(ANS – Tepic) – During the 34th Meeting of the Prison Chaplaincy Service  held at Tepic, in the State of Nayarit, between 16 and 20 July, support was expressed by those present for Fr José Carlos Contreras Rodríguez, a Salesian unjustly accused of the rape  and murder of the young Itzachel Shantal and to whom justice is being denied in spite of various appeals.

Over four hundred people engaged in prison chaplaincy work attended the meeting from all the ecclesiastical Provinces of Mexico and almost fifty dioceses Among the commitments taken up – the final declaration states – “support is to be given to the case of the Salesian Fr José Carlos Contreras Rodríguez, unjustly condemned at San Luis Potosí”.

In a short letter Fr Salvador C. Murguía Villalobos, Superior of the Province of Mexico Guadalajara responded to the news wrote to Archbishop Domingo Díaz Martínez of Tulancingo and the one responsible for Prison Chaplaincy work in the Bishops’ Conference of Mexico.

Thanking him for the support expressed the Provincial wrote: “This time of trial both for Fr José Carlos and for our Province, has helped us to sympathise with those who suffer in prison, and in particular to be close to those who are enduring cases and being condemned even though innocent and find themselves caught up in a justice system marked by irregularities and injustice. On this account we appreciate even more the valuable work undertaken by those engaged in the prison chaplaincy service, thanks to whom Fr José Carlos has also found comfort.”

Published 25/07/2012