The family thought he was a priest.
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he → think → ?
Mexico’s Catholic Church says he was an impostor
MEXICO CITY, Oct 30 -
• For the photo essay click here:
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he → say → essay
When Rev. Jesús Romero arrived at the funeral of Dahina Loaiza in Mexico City in December 2024, her sister Roberta Loaiza sensed something was off.
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something → arrive → December
Wearing a cardinal’s cap and Ferragamo shoes, Romero skipped over the Catholic liturgy and granted general absolution to dozens of mourners, a rite the Church reserves for exceptional circumstances such as imminent danger of death.
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Church → wear → death
“He said he held a really high-ranking position as a priest and had the power to absolve everyone,” Loaiza told Reuters.
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Loaiza → say → Reuters
Elena D'Acosta, a devout Catholic and family friend who had assisted Romero during the ceremony, was so alarmed that she contacted the Archdiocese of Mexico City.
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she → assist → City
Three months later, Bishop Salvador González issued a press release warning that Romero was impersonating a priest and that no diocese in Mexico had any record of him.
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diocese → issue → him
The discovery was painful for the Loaizas, who had paid Gayosso, one of Mexico’s biggest funeral providers, for Romero to conduct the service.
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Romero → pay → service
“They took advantage of us when we were in an incredibly vulnerable moment,” Loaiza said.
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Loaiza → take → moment
Romero could not be reached for comment.
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Romero → reach → comment
Gustavo Torres, the commercial manager for Gayosso, said the company has no formal system for verifying clergy and was unaware of the allegations until approached by Reuters.
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company → say → Reuters
The company apologized, and Torres said it would investigate.
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it → apologize → ?
WHY IMPOSTORS ARE THRIVING
Mexico is grappling with a growing number of unauthorized clergy, offering funeral Masses, baptisms, First Communions, weddings and patron-saint celebrations, according to Reuters interviews with officials in nine of the country’s archdioceses.
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Mexico → thrive → archdioceses
The damage goes beyond money: the Catholic Church does not recognize sacraments by what it calls “fake priests,” so families may have to repeat them.
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families → go → them
With more than 120 million Catholics, according to Vatican data, Mexico has the world’s second-largest Catholic population after Brazil.
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Mexico → accord → Brazil
Faith permeates daily life and national identity.
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Faith → permeate → life
Dioceses elsewhere in Latin America are also warning about impostors performing religious services or soliciting donations, ahead of Pope Leo's visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru next month.
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Dioceses → warn → Uruguay
Church authorities say there have long been isolated cases of people posing as priests.
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authorities → say → priests
But seven Mexican dioceses said the frauds have spread since the COVID-19 pandemic as families scrambled to find priests to pray for sick relatives and conduct funeral rites.
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families → say → rites
“A lot of impostors started to appear,” said María Magdalena de Ibarrola, the chancellor, or record-keeper, of the Archdiocese of Mexico, the country’s largest.
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Ibarrola → start → Mexico
She estimates hundreds of fake priests are operating in Mexico.
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hundreds → estimate → Mexico
Researchers and church officials blame a shortage of priests and a widening gap between cultural Catholicism and the institutional church.
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Researchers → blame → Catholicism
Mexico has 17,331 priests, according to Vatican data, or one for nearly 7,000 Catholics.
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Mexico → have → Catholics
That’s more than three times as many Catholics per priest as in Europe, which has one for every 1,882.
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which → ’ → 1,882
“Celibacy and related commitments simply no longer carry the prestige they once did,” said Elio Masferrer, a religion expert at Mexico’s National School of Anthropology and History.
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Masferrer → relate → Anthropology
Many younger Catholics treat weddings and baptisms mainly as family traditions.
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Catholics → treat → traditions
“They want a Catholic ceremony if possible, but they’re often disconnected from what that actually entails, including the requirement that a liturgical act should be officiated by an ordained minister,” said Rev. Guillermo Gutiérrez, director of the Center for Family, Bioethics and Society Studies at the Pontifical University of Mexico.
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Gutiérrez → want → Mexico
Social media has moved into that gap.
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media → move → gap
Facebook Marketplace is full of ads for "express religious services" that rarely mention the Church does not recognize the providers.
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Church → mention → providers
Religious certificates sell for $30 to $100.
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certificates → sell → 100
Reuters contacted five sellers on Facebook Marketplace in Mexico.
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Reuters → contact → Mexico
All offered “original” certificates for baptisms, First Communions and Confirmations that they said came from parishes.
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they → offer → parishes
Three of the parishes said they don’t provide documents through Facebook Marketplace.
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they → say → Marketplace
A fourth parish doesn’t exist.
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parish → exist → ?
The fifth seller claimed to be linked to a parish but wouldn’t identify it.
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seller → claim → it
When contacted by Reuters, Meta said the listings violated its policies, which prohibit the buying, selling or trading of real or fake documents.
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which → contact → documents
The company said it had removed the five listings and disabled the Facebook group identified by Reuters for breaching its rules.
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it → say → rules
Meta did not respond to questions about whether it was taking any broader measures.
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it → respond → measures
‘I'M A REBEL PRIEST’
De Ibarrola, the chancellor, said fake priests tend to fall into three buckets: suspended or excommunicated clergy; seminary dropouts or others familiar with Catholic rituals; and those with little or no religious training who simply claim to be priests.
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who → i'm → training
For parishioners, the line between the Catholic Church, impostor riests and breakaway churches can be hard to see.
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line → see → Church
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
