Br. Miguel A. Hernández O F M Cap. Found Dead

[cappie]

GUATEMALA CITY - The body of Br. Miguel Angel Hernández was found in a province in the western part of Guatemala. He had been assigned to a parish in Ocotepeque (Honduras). Police sources in Honduras had earlier announced that Br. Miguel had been kidnapped last weekend while travelling from Ocotepeque to the eastern capital of Chiquimula (Guatemala). The body was found in Esquipulas, some 200 kms east of the capital, with multiple stab wounds. Br. Miguel Angel Hernández had been in charge of the parish of Ocotepeque in Honduras for the past four years. Speaking on local radio, his confrere Br. Juan Pablo Lobos has asked the authorities to investigate the killing of Br. Hernández. Violence against missionaries and religious has grown in recent years in Latin America.

The Capuchins of the Vice-Provincia of "Our Lady of Hope" have worked for many years in the brder region between Honduras and Guatemala,where thjey have a number of fraternities. Br. Miguel was 44. He was a Capuchin, ordained in 1994, and had worked in the parishdes of Chiquimula and Quetzaltepeque (Guatemala), Santa Ana (El Salvador), and for the past 4 years had been pastor and Guardian of the Capuchin friary in Nueva Ocotepeque, Honduras. As head of a Catholic school, Br. Miguel was a great friend to young people. He was a hard worker and had a simple manner, clear in his preaching and always sincere and consistent in all that he did.