By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BOGOTA (Worthy News) – A Protestant pastor in northern Colombia was killed, along with two family members, after being attacked while having lunch following a church service on Sunday, Christians told Worthy News.
Gunmen on a motorcycle reportedly fired repeatedly at the family of Pastor Marlon Lora, 43, before fleeing the scene, instantly killing him, his wife Yorley Rincon, 40, and his daughter Ángela, who is 24.
The youngest family member, his son Santiago, 21, survived but remains in critical condition, Christians said.
Sunday’s shootings occurred just meters (feet) away from the national police station in the city of Aguachica in the country’s northern Cesar Department area, prompting “a swift” response from authorities, confirmed advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide(CSW).
It was not immediately clear who was responsible, but a senior CSW official told Worthy News that there were indications that leftist rebels were responsible.
CSW’s Director of Advocacy, Anna Lee Stangl, told Worthy News that “the government continues its post-conflict negotiations with armed groups, including the National Liberation Army (ELN).”
The ELN, a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla insurgency group, “is known to target religious leaders in areas where it operates – such as in the Aguachica region” where the pastor was killed, she said.
BIBLICAL CHURCHES
Pastor Marlon Lora and his wife, Yorley Rincon, led the Prince of Peace Villaparaguay Church, part of the Missionaries Biblical Churches (IBM) denomination, Worthy News learned.
“Pastor Lora held a leadership role overseeing 35 urban and rural churches across Aguachica, Pelaya, San Alberto, San Martin, and other regions in Santander, frequently traveling to support these congregations,” CSW added.
Pastor Giovanni Bermúdez, the couple’s immediate supervisor, said Pastor Lora had expressed concern about “possible threats” to another pastor without mentioning his difficulties.
In comments shared with Worthy News, Pastor Bermúdez noted that Lora “was like many of us pastors. We keep quiet about many things so that everything runs smoothly, even while we carry heavy burdens inside.”
Pastor Divanit Alfonso Calle, president of the Association of Pastors of Aguachica, said Pastor Lora’s role as a board member within the organization “had not caused any conflicts or threats.”
He said that the pastor and his family “were well-loved by the Christian community in the municipality. The couple’s children were active in the local church and led ordinary lives.”
His daughter Ángela worked as a communications and journalism professional for Aguachica’s public utilities company, while his son Santiago is a systems engineering student, said Christians familiar with the situation.
MORE CASES
Yet the murder of Pastor Marlon Lora and his family is not an isolated case. “Last month, brothers Ever and Gerson García Vélez, active members of a faith community in Valle del Cauca, were murdered by three men on their own farm,” CSW told Worthy News.
Also in November, evangelical Pastor Salvador Zapateiro Mercado was killed “under suspicious and unexplained circumstances in Cartagena” while watching a soccer match at a local shop, Christian investigators added.
In August, the home of pastoral couple Rodian Rodriguez and Kelly Medina was reportedly torched by neighbors angered about church services they held outside their residence, Christians said.
The attacks come as the Office of the Ombudsman in Colombia warned of “a worrying trend” of rising “religious freedom violations” targeting “religious leaders,” including Christians.
Between January and September 2024, incidents “infringing on the right to freedom of religion or belief” increased by 31 percent, “rising from 13 cases in 2023 to 17 in 2024”, said CSW, citing official data. “Specifically, death threats saw a staggering 50 percent increase, from four cases in 2023 to eight in 2024.”
CSW’s Stangl told Worthy News that “Despite the grave dangers faced by religious leaders, the Colombian government has stripped them of their status within the National Protection System” aimed at protecting communities.
“We urge the government to recognize victims from the religious sector,” including devoted Christian leaders “within the framework of the individual peace accords,” she added.
The reported violence has overshadowed a historic peace accord signed in 2016 with the largest guerrilla group in the country, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), following years of fighting.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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