The cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán was found in the wooded area of Boquete, a country about forty kilometers from the episcopal see of David, the third city in Panama, on the Pacific coast. The police had released a video showing the cardinal in his car, safe and sound but “a little disoriented.”
He is an elderly man and will turn eighty on the 24th of February. It is unknown whether he spent all this time in the car or elsewhere.
He has been taken to a hospital to check his conditions. The whole country mobilized for him, with the Ministry of the Interior supporting the national police with coordinated investigations from a “group of public prosecutors.”
He had left the episcopal see around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, without luggage or anything that would suggest a trip, and no one had seen him since. The police located him in the interior area, alive but “a little disoriented,” and took him to the hospital.
Appointed by Pope Francis, he welcomed the Pope at WYD and was the one to welcome the Pope during the World Youth Day in 2019. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the province of Chiriquí had initiated an investigation on Wednesday, as the bishop’s disappearance had become public through a statement from his diocese.
The episcopal conference now confirms that he has been found and thanks for the solidarity and prayers. The prosecutor Javier Caraballo explained that investigators had been sent to the province of Chiriquí to check the interior areas.
Surveillance footage showed the bishop’s car heading in that direction. No one had any idea what could have happened.
It’s something that has hit us very hard, we feel great concern and uncertainty. We ask the population to pray to have news and to make him appear.”
The Archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, had addressed the Panamanian journalists: “The ecclesiastical and civil authorities are collaborating, we will be as transparent as possible so that we can have firsthand information about what is happening. He left with normal things to do, some commission, and from there on, nothing was known until the following day when his absence was noticed.
The information we personally have is very scarce, you have a great mission.” 1st February 2024 (last edited on 1st February 2024 | 23:12)