Va. Priest's Brother Among Hostages Killed in Colombia

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By Michelle Boorstein

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 29, 2007; 2:56 PM

Latinos in Northern Virginia are mourning today along with a prominent local advocate--Catholic priest José E. Hoyos. Hoyos, director of the Arlington Diocese's Spanish Apostolate, found out yesterday that his brother was among 11 civilian hostages killed earlier this month in Colombia, his office said.

The deaths of Jairo Hoyos Salcedo and 10 others--all lawmakers--were announced yesterday by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who blamed the country's largest rebel group. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which seized the politicians in 2002, said in a statement earlier in the day that the politicians had died on June 18 when "an unidentified military group" attacked the jungle camp where they were being held.

Hundreds are expected to come out to support Hoyos on Monday, when a memorial Mass will be held at 8 p.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Falls Church. The church, where Hoyos was a vicar, was picked because it was the largest in the area, diocese officials said.

A well-known advocate for Latino immigrants, Father Hoyos appears often in the Spanish-language media in this area and in El Salvador in particular, where he has focused a good part of his ministry.