The slaying in Mexico of nine people who belonged to a Mormon offshoot community where some people practice polygamy spotlights the mainstream church’s struggle to distance itself from plural marriage, which has a history in the faith but has long been denounced.
The victims’ connection to Mormonism featured prominently in headlines this week about the drug cartel attack on a caravan of American women and children living in Mexico, though there’s no indication they were targeted for their religion.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a short statement Tuesday expressing sympathy for the victims, while pointing out that they didn’t belong to the mainstream denomination.