Catholic Church in Mexico seeks to involve entrepreneurs in promoting peace

In an effort to add Mexican business to combat violence in the country, the Catholic Church launched the “Companies for Peace”, which seeks to recognize the businesses that stand out for their good practices and social commitment.

The announcement was held on September 3 during a press conference from the National Dialogue for Peace, an agency that coordinates the actions of the Church against violence, in collaboration with business associations that group thousands of entrepreneurs.

According to the INEGI, In Mexico there are about 5 million businesses, of which 95.5 % are small businesses. All can participate by completing a questionnaire of 21 questions on the official platform and presenting evidence of their practices.

The initiative is based on the National Peace Agenda, which includes 7 National Social Commitment Actions and 14 local actions, aimed at strengthening companies as inclusive and peaceful spaces.

The registration will remain open until November 20, 2025, and the awards will be delivered publicly on January 31, 2026, after the evaluation of an independent committee.

Fr. Jorge Atilano González Candia, executive director of the National Dialogue for Peace, said that recognition is honorary and “is not a certification or a norm.”

He also stressed that the initiative seeks to make visible “from their culture and everyday way to operate, how they have taken the issue of security, legality, ethics and transparency seriously, as practices lived every day within the company and in its environment.”

The priest explained that when a business assumes these values, “it directly influences the daily behaviors of millions of people, the scope we can have is for many families, many people, to add and build practices that pay for the peace of the country.”

In an interview with ACI Press, Fr. González Candia said that the practices that will be evaluated include participation in social reintegration processes, mechanisms for conflict resolution, creation of healthy labor environments and protocols to support employees with addiction problems, among other actions.

For Javier Solana Lozano, president of the Social Union Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Mexico (USEM), it is essential that merchants participate in projects that promote “social justice”.

He highlighted the relevance of promoting the development of collaborators, since in the company, by “carrying out our professional activity, we dignify the work and become better people.”

He added that, otherwise, “it is a waste of time to go to the company and not be better human being, both professional and personal, as in the human, as in the spiritual.”