In the jubilee of consolation, Mexicans pray in Rome for the conversion of the posters: God also loves them

“Violence is like cancer, it is everywhere,” laments Rocío Hidalgo, a neighbor of Chihuahua, just before rowing to cross the Holy Gate of the Basilica of San Pedro, in Rome.

He lives four hours from Ciudad Juárez, at the border with El Paso (United States), and although he has not been a direct victim of the spiral of violence that does not give truce, he assures that suffering drowning the whole society. “In Mexico, life is not respected,” he laments.

His participation in the jubilee of consolation in Rome is a kind of intercession for peace in his country.

This is the most emotional event of the Holy Year 2025, dedicated to those who are traveling through the suffering that causes in the soul the loss of a loved one or a trauma that still bleeds.

She, like the more than 8,500 people who pilgrimage today to the Vatican’s heart for this event convened by the Dicastery for Evangelization, came to present and redeem their pain.

“They have not killed anyone directly. But we cannot look the other way. We as Mexican citizens have to get involved and not show indifference to the pain of others,” he details Aci Press.

Therefore, he wants to offer God this jubilee of consolation “by people who are spending difficult moments, or who in his life, in his childhood or adolescence passed difficult moments”, but also for “all people who are not close to God.”

“We cannot blame the government, each individual in his heart is what he has to change”

“The pain that is lived in Mexico today is because of the evil of those who moved away from God. And we want to end that,” he says firmly. For Rocío, the change cannot depend solely on the authorities: “To start a change you have to do from the heart. We cannot blame the government, it is each individual in your heart what you have to change. And the only way is to pass to the side of God our Lord.”

The jubilar itinerary has led her to pray for victims, perpetrators and for her own country. “How difficult to pray for someone who murders,” he recognizes.

In the same pilgrimage group, Yasmín Agüero and Jorge Reyes travel, who, like Rocío, live in the state of Chihuahua.

They explain to ACI Press that violence has become a shadow that accompanies every aspect of family life. “Chihuahua is one of the states with more violence for drug trafficking,” explains Yasmín. “We suffer structural violence: psychological, spiritual and lack of values.”

They are afraid, above all, for their children aged 14, 10 and 7 because they could fall into the claws of criminal gangs. “They are everywhere, even at school. It is complicated: as parents you have to be asking what time they arrive, who they leave. Many families have opted because the children do not go out at night, because they could not return.”

Her husband, Jorge, attributes the vulnerability of children – in these ages so exposed to criminal groups – to the lack of family solidity, with fathers and mothers who are usually always “working.”

“Children need a guide, always. The one who is not present or the mother leaves them in total helplessness. They are influenced by external groups. They can even be recruited by certain groups,” says Jorge.

In their community there are several families that have lost their children. They were deceived online, offering them a job that was actually the entrance door to a poster.

“They were captured by the crime, they transformed them into hawks: spying and monitoring the drug passage. Another rival group identified them and killed them. Moms continue to look for them. It is terrifying,” he explains without being able to put words to the endless pain of these families that seek their missing children.

In addition, the police “cannot do anything.” “It is too much violence. It is the moms that fly, those who seek between herbs, between land of nothing, hoping to find a vestige, a bone, a piece of clothing,” he adds.

“We come to pray for the conversion of those people who harm”

Participating in the jubilee of consolation has been for them a spiritual respite and an opportunity to pray for peace in their country. “We are looking for peace, hope, reconciliation too, because we feel that a lot of reconciliation is missing from us with God,” says Yasmín. “There are times that one does not understand why violence exists. But we come to pray, to put our children in the hands of God and to ask for the conversion of those people who hurt,” says her husband, Jorge.

In the silence of the immediate vicinity of the Plaza de San Pedro, along with thousands of pilgrims around the world, Rocío, Yasmín and Jorge raise a prayer for the future of their country.