2 Mexican officials assassinated: The Church expresses ‘profound consternation’

Police patrol in Mexico City. / Credit: David Ramos/ACI Prensa

Puebla, Mexico, May 21, 2025 / 19:22 pm (CNA).

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference expressed its “profound consternation” following the assassination of two senior officials of the Mexico City government, which occurred Tuesday in the Mexican capital.

The victims of the shooting are Ximena Guzmán, private secretary to Clara Brugada, Mexico City’s mayor, and José Muñoz, adviser to the city government. 

“We join in the grief of their families, friends, and colleagues. To them, we express our closeness, prayers, and solidarity, asking God to grant them comfort, hope, and strength in the face of this painful loss,” the Mexican bishops expressed in a message following the assassinations.

The Mexico City government reported in a statement that the “direct attack” occurred in the Moderna neighborhood of the Benito Juárez borough, approximately four miles south of Mexico City’s historic Zócalo (main square).

“Personnel from the Mexico City Secretariat of Citizen Security and the attorney general’s office, both with support from the Mexican [federal] government, are already conducting the corresponding investigations to determine the motive for the attack. Additionally, video surveillance cameras in the area are being analyzed to identify the probable perpetrators, who are known to have been traveling on a motorcycle,” the Mexico City government stated. 

“There will be no impunity; those responsible will be arrested and must face justice,” the statement assured.

The Mexico City attorney general’s office stated that “according to initial reports, the incident occurred while the victims were in the course of their daily routines, when the vehicle they were traveling in was intercepted by individuals who reportedly opened fire from a motorcycle.”

“Departmental, forensic, and investigative police personnel are carrying out the corresponding investigations to determine the facts of the case,” he said, indicating that they are analyzing recordings “from video surveillance cameras in the area” and gathering information from witnesses “that will allow us to identify and locate the probable perpetrators.”

May Christ ‘sustain us in this dark moment’

In their statement, the Mexican bishops lamented that this recent crime “joins a painful chain of violent events that, as we noted in our statement of May 19, following the massacre of seven young people in Guanajuato, ‘is an alarming sign of the weakening of the social fabric, impunity, and the absence of peace in vast regions of our nation.’”

“As shepherds of the people of God, we do not resign ourselves to living with fear nor with violent death. We trust that, with the power of the Gospel and the collaboration of all, it is still possible to build a Mexico where life, justice, and peace flourish,” the bishops said.

“May Christ, our peace, sustain us in this dark moment. May Our Lady of Guadalupe, queen of peace, intercede for our nation,” they concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.