@IglesiaMexico / Proceso
CV NEWS FEED // A retired Catholic bishop in Mexico who briefly went missing due to an alleged kidnapping has been located and hospitalized, according to the Mexican Episcopal Conference of Bishops.
Bishop Emeritus Msgr. Salvador Rangel, known in Mexico for his work as a mediator between drug cartels, was located on March 29 after having disappeared on March 27, according to an April 30 report from Associated Press News.
Chief prosecutor of the Morelos state of Mexico, Uriel Carmona, told AP News that the former bishop’s kidnapping appears to have been an example of “express kidnapping,” a kind of abduction typically carried out by low-level criminals, where demands for ransom are lower, “precisely so the money can be handed over more quickly.”
The bishops wrote in a statement to Rangel’s captors prior to his release, “Considering his poor health, we call firmly but respectfully to those who are holding Msgr. Rangel captive to allow him to take the medications he needs in a proper and timely fashion, as an act of humanity.”
ABC News observed in its report that the bishops’ message “reflected the very fine and dangerous line that prelates have to walk in cartel-dominated areas of Mexico, to avoid antagonizing drug capos who could end their lives in an instant, on a whim.”
The bishops have not yet disclosed Rangel’s current status or the extent of any possible injuries.
“It was unclear who may have abducted Rangel,” ABC added, noting: “The hyper violent drug gangs known as the Tlacos, the Ardillos and the Familia Michoacana operate in the area.”
No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction thus far.
