Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of Chilpancingo-Chilapa An order of nuns has withdrawn from an especially violent city in Mexico after the parents and sister of one of the women religious was kidnapped and killed.
The Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, where two priests were murdered this month, said in a statement that the nuns from the Comunidad Guadalupano (Guadalupe Community) had withdrawn because of a lack of security, leaving a school it operated in the city of Chilapa without staff.
Schools in Chilapa suspended classes from September to December because of the insecurity, the statement said.
The nuns’ withdrawal from Chilapa is the latest hardship for the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, which serves parts of southern state of Guerrero, where the heroin trade has exploded in recent years. At least six priests have been murdered there since 2009.
Two priests, Fathers Germain Muniz García and Ivan Anorve Jaime, were shot dead as they drove back from Candlemas celebrations with four other passengers, three of whom were injured.
State prosecutor Xavier Olea Pelaez said originally that the priests had attended the celebrations, where there were armed individuals from three states and that a criminal group from a neighbouring state had shot the priests.
Mr Olea also said a photo, showing Fr Muniz holding an assault rifle and posing with masked men, prompted confusion.
Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of Chilpancingo-Chilapa rejected the prosecutor’s version of events as a “fairy tale”, saying the photo was at least a year old and likely taken with members of a community security force in Fr Muniz’s hometown.
The state government said the priests were not members of a criminal group and confirmed details voiced by the bishop.