NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      GUATEMALA CITY (CWNews.com) - An auxiliary bishop of Guatemala City said on Monday that certain individuals offered to drop a murder charge against a Catholic priest in exchange for a public statement saying he did not believe the army and government were not involved.

      Father Mario Orantes Najera, who released from jail on February 17, had been held since last year in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera, two days after the bishop released a human rights report that was critical of the army's conduct during the country's 36-year civil war. Bishop Mario Rios Montt told a news conference that unnamed persons last November offered to arrange the release of Father Orantes if the bishop renounced claims by Church leaders and human rights groups that the army or its supporters were involved in the murder.

      The presiding judge in the investigation released Father Orantes last month after he determined there was not enough evidence to put him on trial, but the priest remains formally accused.