Violence against Christians in Colombia continues to rise after a man was shot dead during mass in the south western city of Cali on Tuesday.
Fernando Padilla, 35, was killed after a gunman entered the packed Santa Cecilia Catholic church while the Archbishop of Cali celebrated mass, according to Fides.
The Archbishop of Cali, His Excellency Dario de Jesus Monsalve Mejia, denounced the shooting. He said: "Taking advantage of the gathering in churches to kill a parishioner and create terror among the faithful, goes beyond any rational consideration.
"Unfortunately not even the fear of God stops the absolute disregard for human life that has roots in the soul of vast sectors of our Colombian society."
It comes two years after a shooting in the same church killed two people and is typical of systematic violence against Christians in the war torn South American state.
Colombia voted to reject a peace deal with Marxist guerilla group FARC in October, members of which have murdered priests, destroyed churches and kidnapped missionaries.
In a country-wide referendum, Colombia turned down the proposed deal largely because it was seen as too lenient on the insurgents.
Now the longest running civil war in the Western hemisphere, it has left around 220,000 dead and nearly seven million displaced.
The persecution charity Open Doors put Colombia within the worst 50 countries for Christians to live in, largely because of organised crime which FARC is a main exponent of.
The charity's Latin American analyst Dennis Petri said: "Colombia is a country with multiple realities. Formally, it's a modern democratic country where the rule of law is established and religious freedom guaranteed. However, large areas of the country are under the control of criminal organisations, drug cartels, revolutionaries and paramilitary groups."
He added: "Many Christians continue to be targeted because of their individual activities as influential pastors, political leaders, journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates, indigenous rights advocates or environmental protection advocates.
"In community life, criminal organisations or guerrillas obstruct Christians in their daily lives, monitoring their activities and impeding anything that goes against their interests. Christians particularly experience hindrances with regard to access to education, health and other social services.
"In national life, criminal groups often take over the traditional roles of the state, which in practice means there is no rule of law and harm inflicted to Christians is left unpunished.
"In church life, organised crime reduces the freedom of Christians to gather, as church services are constantly monitored and sermons censored."
