AP PHOTOS: Indigenous deacon in Mexico echoes late pope's call to defend rights and Mother Earth

AP PHOTOS: Indigenous deacon in Mexico echoes late pope’s call to defend rights and Mother Earth

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Congregants attend an Indigenous blessing ceremony for Communion wafers that will be taken to a priest to be consecrated before they can be given out, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez, center, takes part in a blessing ceremony after picking up Communion wafers that need to be taken to a priest to be consecrated before he can give them out in his next day service, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Francisca Perez attends a blessing ceremony for Communion wafers that will then be taken to a priest to be consecrated before they can be given out at the next day’s service, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez prepares to unwrap Communion wafers consecrated by a priest, in the Simojovel municipality,, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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A Virgin of Guadalupe statue adorns an altar in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez, accompanied by his wife Crecencia López, stands at the altar during a Mass honoring the late Pope Francis, in Simojovel, Mexico, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos, File)

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Indigenous women kneel in prayer during a memorial Mass honoring the late Pope Francis, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos, File)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez holds a Bible translated into Tsotsil, a Mayan language, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez bestows a blessing on a child during a Mass honoring the late Pope Francis in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Crecencia López, wife of Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez, offers Communion wafers during a Mass honoring the late Pope Francis, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos, File)

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Indigenous women attend a Mass honoring the late Pope Francis, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez walks along a dirt road on his farm in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Crecencia López, wife of Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez, prepares to slaughter a chicken for dinner, on their farm in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez pauses for a work break on his farm in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez arrives to the local Catholic chapel in Constitución, near Simojovel, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

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Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez prepares the altar for a Sunday Mass, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

By ISABEL MATEOS

SIMOJOVEL, Mexico (AP) — Deacon Juan Pérez Gómez helps tend to his small Tsotsil Catholic community in Mexico. He was ordained a deacon in 2022, during the papacy of the late Pope Francis.

At a recent service in the remote southern Mexican community of Simojovel, Catholic and Mayan symbols mingled at the altar as Pérez Gómez, 57, read the Gospel in his native Tsotsil and echoed Francis’ call to defend human rights, justice, and care for Mother Earth.