At the feet of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Bishop Francisco Javier Acero, Auxiliary Bishop of the Primate Archdiocese of Mexico, called on the president-elect, Claudia Sheinbaum, to listen to the mothers of those missing due to violence in the country: “I ask you, on their behalf, that as a mother you listen to these mothers.”
During the commemorative event for the International Day of Missing Persons, this August 30 at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Mons. Acero and searcher mothers They urged the authorities newly elected, among them Sheinbaum and Clara Brugada, elected head of Government of Mexico City—both militants of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, current president of the country—, to “reestablish the social fabric that has been broken and begin to repair it.”
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Bishop Acero regretted that the numbers of missing people “continue to be alarming” and said that the last three presidential terms – Felipe Calderón, of the National Action Party (PAN); Enrique Peña Nieto, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI); and López Obrador—have an “enormous debt regarding disappearances,” warning that the problem is “systemic.”
According to the website From the Ministry of the Interior, from December 31, 1952 to May 13, 2024, there are 115,498 missing and unlocated people. Only so far in López Obrador’s six-year term, which began on December 1, 2018, there are 51,620.
Bishop Acero offered to mediate a “discreet, without cameras, without spotlights” dialogue with the president-elect. “From here I make this call to you, to listen to this national network,” he said.
Relatives of missing persons are placed “in the hands of the Virgin of Guadalupe”
Furthermore, the prelate specified that the Catholic Church has taken on the responsibility of “accompanying the people of God” and continuing to support the families of the disappeared.
“From the Basilica, the most maternal place in Mexico, we want to make visible this reality, this pain of the mothers, fathers and relatives of the disappeared (…) In our belief, in our convictions, (we want) to put them in the hands of the Virgin of Guadalupe,” said Bishop Acero.
The bishop indicated that the Catholic Church meets monthly with groups searching for relatives “to listen” and has launched the Peace Mailboxes initiative, to collaborate in locating missing people through the anonymous participation of citizens.
He also said they are working to protect unaccompanied migrant minors so they do not become victims of trafficking.
Diego López Colin
I am a graduate of Journalism at the Carlos Septién García School with experience in religious institutional communication. Since 2016 he has written for digital media and, since 2018, I have reported the most important news about Catholic events in Mexico for the EWTN news channel. He has been ACI Prensa correspondent in Mexico since 2023.