People ask me how I come up with my stories?  I tell them all you have to do is follow the news in Mexico.

The man in the picture is Father Gregorio Lopez Gorostieta. He is the third priest to have been murdered in Guerrero, Mexico. His body was found in Altamirano, an area where cartel members extort from businesses and rob from the Catholic Church.

Because of the Father’s affective pastoral works they represent symbols of power that weaken cartels and have made them targets. Especially those pastors who refuse to perform quickie gangster marriages. In Mexico, marriages require rigorous paper work. Denying demands of cartel members such as blessing a car, a home, or a gang member’s family is often refused with disastrous results.  However, no one knows why Father Gregorio was killed.

Nine priests have been reported assassinated in the last two years in Mexico and two more are reported missing. The battle cry coined by a local bishop is: “Ya Basta, Enough Already.”

Mexican police have done little to find the killers. A crisis of confidence exists. The people of Mexico have grave doubts about police integrity and the willingness to investigate those in the shadows who hold a nation hostage.

My name is Wally Runnels and I write Border Pulp.