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By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, January 06, 2026<\/span><\/p>\n AI Summary<\/p>\n An artificial intelligence-powered tool created this summary based on the source article. The summary has undergone review and verification by an editor.<\/p>\n See People walk on the street in Salento, Colombia. <\/span> | Unsplash\/Delaney Turner<\/span><\/p>\n A 54-year-old Protestant pastor was shot and killed by armed men on New Year\u2019s Eve in northern Colombia as he gathered with his family. The killing took place in the Santa Elena neighborhood of Fundaci\u00f3n Municipality in the Magdalena Department.<\/p>\n Police said the pastor, Jos\u00e9 Otoniel Ortega, was shot around midnight on Dec. 31 while celebrating the start of the year with relatives, according to the United Kingdom-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which said he was taken to a nearby medical clinic and died from his injuries shortly after.<\/p>\n Authorities in Magdalena had launched a coordinated investigation with the Attorney General\u2019s Office to identify and arrest those responsible. They urged residents to share any relevant information by calling local emergency lines.<\/p>\n The incident sparked outrage among religious leaders across Colombia, with national Evangelical networks issuing statements condemning the killing of Ortega, who was affiliated with the Foursquare Gospel Church and served as a religious leader in Fundaci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n Earlier reports had misidentified his denomination as the Pentecostal Church.<\/p>\n CSW called Ortega\u2019s death a \u201cpremeditated, targeted assassination,\u201d pointing to the timing and nature of the attack.<\/p>\n “CSW extends our deepest condolences to the family and church community of Pastor Jos\u00e9 Otoniel Ortega for this loss,” CSW\u2019s Advocacy Director Anna Lee Stangl said in a statement. “The nature of the attack on Mr. Otoniel Ortega, whilst he was celebrating New Year\u2019s Eve with his family, makes it clear that this was a premeditated, targeted assassination.”<\/p>\n Ortega\u2019s denomination described him as a dedicated pastor committed to service.<\/p>\n The Colombian Council of Evangelical Churches released a statement saying the killing had affected not just Ortega\u2019s congregation, but the larger Christian community in the country. The group called for justice and an end to violence against religious leaders.<\/p>\n The Ministry of the Interior urged local civil and police authorities to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. It also reminded the public of the constitutional rights tied to religious freedom, including the right to life and safety for faith leaders and their communities.<\/p>\n Ortega\u2019s killing is the latest in a series of attacks against religious leaders in the country, according to CSW.<\/p>\n At least 10 Protestant leaders were killed and one Catholic priest was kidnapped in Colombia between December 2024 and November 2025, including another pastor in Magdalena in January 2025.<\/p>\n The group said religious leaders in conflict zones are often targeted by criminal groups involved in Colombia\u2019s long-running internal armed conflict, where illegal armed actors seek to maintain territorial control and suppress dissent.<\/p>\n Church representatives and advocacy groups have also raised concerns about recent changes to the country\u2019s protection framework. CSW said recent government reforms altered Decree 1066, removing a specific protection protocol that had recognized religious leaders as a distinct vulnerable group and provided tailored security measures under Colombia\u2019s National Protection System.<\/p>\n The groups have called on international actors to track attacks on faith-based leaders and support accountability efforts.<\/p>\n Final services for Ortega were expected to take place at his church in Fundaci\u00f3n. The police investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At least 10 other Colombian pastors killed in last year By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, January 06, 2026 Quick Summary AI Summary Pastor Jos\u00e9 Otoniel Ortega was assassinated during New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations in northern Colombia. At least 10 other pastors have been killed in the country within the past year. Authorities have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[4768,2984,4769,2618,983,471],"class_list":{"0":"post-15649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-living","8":"tag-assassinated","9":"tag-celebrating","10":"tag-colombia","11":"tag-eve","12":"tag-pastor","13":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Quick Summary<\/h2>\n
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