Salvadoran priest found murdered in parish church: police

San Salvador, May 18 (AFP) A priest was found murdered in his church in a small town west of San Salvador, a police source said Saturday. The Catholic cleric, identified as Cecilio Perez, was found by parishioners in the San Jose La Majada church in Juayua, an agent of El Salvador's National Civil Police told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

The officer said an investigation was in its earliest stages and it was not yet known who might have killed the priest. The Catholic Church in El Salvador has so far issued no statement on the killing.

El Salvador last year tallied 3,340 homicides. That was 15 per cent less than in 2017 but still amounted to a rate of 51 killings per 100,000 inhabitants, making it one of the world's most violent countries not at war. Feared gangs are blamed for much of the violence. With an estimated 70,000 members, they make a living mainly from drug trafficking and extortion. (AFP) SMJ

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