Priest refuses to remove his clerical attire after being told he must to renew passport in Mexico

Father Alberto Medel reported that staff at Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE, by its Spanish acronym) demanded he remove his clerical attire for the photo to renew his passport, a requirement he described as discriminatory and a violation of his right to religious freedom.

The incident took place on Nov. 4 at the passport office in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City, according to an account the priest shared on X .

In response to the complaint, Roberto Velasco Álvarez, who heads the SRE, said on X that he had given instructions “for the photograph to be retaken with him wearing his ecclesiastical attire, and for the passport to be issued.”

What happened? According to Medel, the coordinator of the theological committee for the college of exorcists of the Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico, an SRE employee told him that he “could not have the photograph taken while wearing his ecclesiastical attire.”

The priest refused to remove his attire, arguing that he had the right to dress according “to my state of life, provided that my face remained perfectly visible.”

The employee consulted with a supervisor, and Medel was allowed to be photographed in his clerical…