NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      GUATEMALA CITY (CWNews.com) - A judge in Guatemala ordered on Monday that body of a slain bishop be exhumed to find more evidence related to his murder in April.

      Prosecutors sought the re-examination to determine whether Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera was bitten by a dog. Father Mario Orantes Najera, who was charged with the murder in July, lived with the bishop at the time of the murder and reportedly owned a dog which only responded to his orders. The bishop was bludgeoned to death in his garage on April 26, two days after he released a report on human rights violations during the country's 36-year civil war which blamed the government for most of the deaths in the war.

      Some human rights workers have said they believe Bishop Gerardi was killed by death squads in retaliation for the report. Prosecutors have not revealed a suspected motive for Father Orantes. Judge Isaias Figueroa Medina said forensics experts representing prosecutors, the court, and the archdiocese's Human Rights Office will be present at the exhumation and examination of the body, which has been approved by church officials.