Evangelical Christian Denied Burial in Mexico

(Compass) – When Alberto Iturbe died on May 25, permission to bury him was denied the family because they were evangelical Christians, not traditional Catholics. The grieving family, who live in Puebla city, discovered that even their pastor, an official of the Evangelical Pastoral Alliance of Puebla city, was unable to work out a solution because recent laws allow an indigenous community to invoke “use and custom” rules over secular laws of burial established in 1859. Authorities are recommending only that evangelicals press for a change in the new law. Madero University professor Marjorie Hord Mendez commented, “It seems unthinkable that such things happen in the 21st century. This is a flagrant violation of human rights.”