Priest jailed for murdering son

Some stories are just too sad for words...For the record, the boy carried his father's name, Oscar Emmanuel Valle. His mother is María Félix Hernández. Doña María, le queremos expresar nuestro más sincero pésame.

BBC News
8/9/2007

A Catholic priest in Mexico who killed his son so the Church would not know he had broken vows of celibacy has been jailed for 55 years in Mexico City.

Dagoberto Valle Arriaga had confessed in 2005 to killing his son, Oscar.

State prosecutors have not released the boy's age nor any details about his murder, but local media are reporting that he was 16 when he was killed.

Mr Valle, who was a priest in the city of Texcoco, on the outskirts of the capital, was arrested in 2006.

He was accused of kidnapping his son in September 2005 and bringing him to the central state of Guanajuato before murdering him.

The authorities released no details of how the boy was killed, but it appears that his father dumped his body in the outskirts of a city called Acambaro.

Officials said he was afraid the Church would find out about the boy's existence and remove him from the priesthood for breaking his vows of celibacy.

Celibacy is considered obligatory for Roman Catholic priests, although some Church officials have said it is not prescribed doctrine.

Roughly 150,000 men worldwide have left the priesthood to marry. The Church considers them outcasts.