Mexico’s Catholic leaders are renewing their call for peace as violence and criminal control continue to plague large parts of the country.
On 12 January, bishops and religious leaders announced the second National Dialogue for Peace, urging political leaders to listen to victims, consult all sectors of society and work together to restore security.
Auxiliary Bishop Héctor Pérez Villarreal of Mexico City said the church is not asking permission to build peace but calling the nation to assume a shared moral responsibility.
The initiative, backed by the Mexican bishops, the Jesuits and religious superiors, grew out of the 2022 murder of two Jesuit priests in northern Mexico.
The dialogue has hosted nationwide forums, amplified victims’ voices and offered policy proposals, but organisers warn conditions remain dire, especially with rising extortion and areas where the state no longer governs.
A second national forum will be held 30 January to 1 February in Guadalajara.
Despite exhaustion, church leaders insist Mexican society remains hopeful and ready to act.
“Mexican society is not defeated,” Auxiliary Bishop Héctor Pérez Villarreal of Mexico City said 12 January.
“It is tired, but willing to organize; hurting, but hopeful. … Every sector of Mexican society and the state (must) assume its historical responsibility.”
