Vaya Con Dios...

Tim Cavanaugh | November 9, 2004

Monsignor Martinez lives! Angry parishioners from the Mexican town of Chucandiro have chained shut their church and are demonstrating outside the cathedral in the city of Morelia to protest the firing of their local priest, Alfredo Gallegos. Did Father Gallegos molest children? Steal money from the collection basket? Preach heresy? Urge churchgoers to cross into the United States illegally and vote for John Kerry? None of the above. In fact, as Gallegos supporter Gilberto Moron says, noting the priest's history of raising money for roads and hospitals, "He has united us as a people." Instead, Father Gallegos was taken out ("sacked" says the Beeb, "defrocked" says Reuters—which I don't believe) for exercising his constitutional right to bear arms.

Actually, this doesn't appear to be a constitutional right in Mexico. But self-defense is a right under God, and Father Gallegos, renowned as "Padre Pistolas" for his habit of packing "a shiny pistol beneath his robes," has got Holy Mother Church to back him up on that. Bravo to the good people of Chucandiro: Would that our own disgruntled parishioners had such cojones.

Update: Stevo Threadkiller notes this story with more background on Gallegos. (He's carrying a 9mm.)