TENANGO TEPEXI, Mexico — "Traditionalist Catholics" expelled 20 evangelical Christians in February from a town in Guerrero state and cut off the electricity and water supplies to eight Protestant families in Chiapas state.
Authorities in Tenango Tepexi, Guerrero, removed 20 Christians in three families, including 14 children, from their homes Feb. 18. Sources said the Christians were temporarily held in town offices, then loaded onto trucks and dumped on the edge of town.
Town leaders supportive of the traditionalist Catholics, who practice a blend of Catholic and native religions, told them they would be burned to death if they tried to return. In Chiapas, in the Santa Rita area of La Trinitaria municipality, traditionalist Catholics cut off the water and electricity of 40 people from eight evangelical families Feb. 18.
Traditionalist Catholics insisted that the Christians pay for the religious festivals and also help fund repairs of a Catholic church building.
Adan Aguilar Perez, an evangelical leader in La Trinitaria, said conflicts with traditionalist Catholics stem from government unwillingness to enforce laws against religious intolerance.
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