Abducted Catholic bishop who tried to mediate between cartels in Mexico is located, hospitalized

A retired Roman Catholic bishop who was famous for trying to mediate between drug cartels in Mexico was apparently kidnapped, but was later located and taken to a hospital, the Mexican Council of Bishops said Monday.

A retired Roman Catholic bishop who was famous for trying to mediate between drug cartels in Mexico was located and taken to a hospital after apparently being briefly kidnapped, the Mexican Council of Bishops said Monday.

The church leadership in Mexico said in a statement earlier that Msgr. Salvador Rangel, a bishop emeritus, disappeared on Saturday and called on his captors to release him.

But the council later said he "has been located and is in the hospital," without specifying how he had been found or released.

Uriel Carmona, the chief prosecutor of Morelos state, where the bishop disappeared, said "preliminary indications are that it may have been an 'express' kidnapping."

In Mexico, regular kidnappings are often lengthy affairs involving long negotiations over ransom demands. "Express" kidnappings, on the other hand, are quick abductions usually carried out by low-level criminals were ransom demands are lower, precisely so the money can be handed over more quickly.

Earlier, the council said Rangel was in ill health, and begged the captors to allow him to take his medications as "an act of humanity."

Rangel was bishop of the notoriously violent diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, in the southern state of Guerrero, where drug cartels have been fighting turf battles for years. In an effort later endorsed by the government, Rangel sought to convince gang leaders to stop the bloodshed and reach agreements.