( CNN ) -- Authorities are negotiating with a religious cult in southwestern Mexico , trying to persuade leaders to allow public schools to operate in the isolated community , state media reported . `` It is a problem of fundamentalism , '' Michoacan state government secretary Jesus Reyna Garcia told Mexico 's state-run Notimex news agency on Wedesday . The talks came after residents of New Jerusalem blocked roads into the community and attacked children , parents and teachers trying to enter a house that had been converted into a school . Three people were injured in the clashes Monday , state officials said . In July , members of the cult destroyed the only school building in the town , saying the Virgin of the Rosary , who they worship , told them school buildings were built by the devil and were to be demolished . The rising tension in the 3,000-person community , about 250 miles ( 400 kilometers ) west of Mexico City , has drawn the attention of security officials in Michoacan state , who said 100 police were at the ready . `` We need to remind these people that they are not living in a separate territory , in an island , '' Gov . Fausto Vallejo told reporters . Leaders of the cult said they were not opposed to educating the community 's youth . `` What happens is that those people are using the school as a way to introduce to our community things that are banned , like fashion , immorality , vice , drugs and alcoholism , '' said a New Jerusalem Cathedral spokesman known as Father Luis . Meanwhile , officials from Mexico 's Council of Bishops have disavowed the group . `` While they use symbols of the Catholic Church , we reiterate that they have nothing to do with it , '' the council said in a statement Tuesday . The school year was scheduled to begin on Monday . `` We 're willing to keep on teaching , but we need security guarantees for ourselves , the community and the children , '' teacher Ruben Gaona Rafael said . Some residents of the Turicato municipality , where New Jerusalem is located , have asked the government to intervene , saying they want their children to go to school without fear of being attacked . `` We hope that the government will do something about it , although we have n't seen anything yet , '' resident Manuel Campos said . `` We may have no other choice but to defend ourselves . '' Mexico 's Catholic bishops called on the local government to do more . `` Laws should be followed , and in this case , it is the local authorities who should intervene and impose order in a conflict that , if it is not attended to , could go even farther . It is not something that should wait . Now is the time to act and exercise the rule of law that has been violated , '' the statement said . New Jerusalem was founded decades ago , and there have been clashes reported among its residents in the past . CNN 's Krupskaia Alis and Rafael Romo and CNNMexico.com 's Rodrigo Aguiar and America Juarez contributed to this report .
Three people are injured in clashes , as a cult blocks children from attending school . Governor : `` We need to remind these people that they are not living in a separate territory '' we have the same laws and constitution here as everywhere else.