The Bishop of the Mexican diocese where three elderly nuns were assaulted has condemned the violence against religious and members of the clergy.
In a statement, Bishop Oscar Armando Campos Contreras of the Diocese of Tehuantepec, along with his clergy, decry the acts “perpetrated against three religious elderly nuns, of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart” in the night between June 29-30, and committed against the area’s priests and religious, reported Fides.
On Monday night, the three elderly nuns were gagged and bound during a robbery at their mission house in the town of Palomares in southern Mexico. Sources say they were uninjured.
“The victims of a robbery in their home despite their age, were bound and gagged. This aggression, along with that suffered by the parish priest of the area, in Palomares, Oaxaca, reflects the degree of violence which is widespread in the area,” the statement noted, calling on authorities to intervene and work harder to protect citizens.
Because “this situation is rooted in personal and family, social and cultural deterioration,” the Bishop urged parents to invest in the education of their children.
“When there is no respect for life and for the dignity of each person, the rest of the values are not considered, and therefore corruption and wickedness, money and material goods appear as the most important things in life,” he wrote.
Sources report that nine months earlier the parish priest of Palomares was beaten, bound and robbed at gunpoint. In the 2014 in the neighboring Guerrero state, three priests were murdered.
