A Mexican Catholic priest was killed on Sunday in the southern state of Chiapas after officiating a mass, his religious order and authorities said, marking the latest death in a recent wave of violence in the area.

Catholic priest Marcelo Perez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers in southern Mexico, was killed on Sunday. The prosecutors' office in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, in the state of Chiapas, said the religious leader was shot dead by two gunmen when he was in his van.

Gunmen in Mexico have shot dead a Catholic priest who was an outspoken advocate for indigenous rights and who had condemned the violence plaguing his community. Father Marcelo Pérez was killed after celebrating Mass in the southern state of Chiapas on Sunday, the prosecutor's office said.

Sr. María called the priest’s murder a sign that there are people trying to create division in the communities. Chiapas: a region marked by trafficking and poverty Forced migration has led to a rise in the culture of violence in Mexico, particularly in the state of Chiapas—where Fr. Marcelo was from.

Hundreds of people have turned out for the burial of Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas.

Hundreds of people have turned out to mourn Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas

Rev. Marcelo Pérez was shot dead by two gunmen when he was in his van, just after he had finished celebrating Mass, the state prosecutors' office said.

Two assailants on a motorcycle fired at Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez, 41, who was found dead inside a vehicle in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas.