In a village in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, a pastor was arrested and forced from his community for refusing to bow to the statue of a saint. In November 2025, Protestant Pastor Mariano Velásquez Martínez begrudgingly agreed to be one of the community’s “mayordomos,” the overseer of religious festivals. Local Catholics promised he would be exempt from participating in Catholic festivals and would only have to provide the candles and flowers for the celebration. On Jan. 15, the pastor was ordered to pray to an image of St. James during a festival.