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“As long as people remain missing, there will be no peace”: Bishop Acero calls for support for searching families
Marking 40 years since the prayer gathering for peace in Assisi, the auxiliary bishop of Mexico City criticized the authorities’ limited response to disappearances and called on political, economic, and religious leaders to make a concrete commitment to opposing violence.
CHURCH IN MEXICO
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
10/30/20266 min read
Bishop Francisco Javier Acero, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mexico, during the ecumenical gathering on October 26 marking the 40th anniversary of the day of prayer for peace in Assisi. Photo: Archdiocese of Mexico.
MEXICO CITY — Bishop Francisco Javier Acero, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mexico, warned that peace in the country would remain out of reach as long as people remained missing and called for support for families searching for their loved ones. During a commemoration held on Monday, October 26, marking 40 years since the prayer gathering for peace convened by St. John Paul II in Assisi, the bishop also urged the defense of religious freedom and an end to the use of religious beliefs to justify violence.
“May concern not paralyze us, nor fear lead us to remain silent. Let us not resign ourselves to the rule of force and arrogance. Let us continue working together so that everyone is found, because as long as people remain missing, there will be no peace in our society,” he said in his message, which was shared with Press Crux.
The bishop connected the interreligious commemoration with the suffering of families searching for missing relatives and questioned the attention given to their cases. “Dear searching families, your cries of pain and helplessness over these unjust disappearances, and over the authorities’ limited response in following up on each of your cases, remain present in our Churches. We stand with you in the strength of God’s love, which gives us a hope that does not disappoint and that no ideology can take away from us,” he said.
Mexico is facing a crisis of disappearances that particularly affects young people. The country has surpassed 133,000 missing and unlocated people: Red Lupa recorded 134,257 as of May 16, 2026, while the official registry listed 130,500 on October 7, amid cases of people being found and questions about possible underreporting. According to an analysis by A dónde van los desaparecidos, 8,217 people disappeared between October 2025 and September 2026 and remained missing at the time of its review. Three in ten victims during that period were between 15 and 24 years old. Experts consulted by the outlet warned of disappearances linked to recruitment by criminal groups and questioned whether the decline in recorded cases necessarily reflected an improvement.
Searching families and human rights organizations report inadequate investigations, barriers to filing reports, and backlogs in identifying human remains. The crisis has also caused tensions between the Mexican government and the U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which brought the country’s situation before the General Assembly. According to a statement by the International Federation for Human Rights and Mexican organizations, the government rejected that decision, while the organizations are calling for investigations that clarify both the role of organized crime and the possible involvement or complicity of public authorities.
Open doors for searching families
Faced with this suffering, Bishop Acero identified support for families as one of religious communities’ concrete responsibilities. He said Church spaces must remain open to listen, share their pain, and sustain the search, welcoming both believers and those distant from the faith.
“We continue, and will continue, to meet with you to listen to you in the light of the Gospel, without conditions and with our doors open to believers and to those who are distant from the faith, because this heartbreaking cry must continue to be heard,” he said. He added that churches have “an open heart” to support the search for every missing person and those who have had to leave their homes because of violence.
The bishop highlighted the perseverance of those searching for relatives and the love that sustains their efforts. In that light, he also called for care for families, especially those suffering injustice and violence, so they would not be left alone with their pain.
An appeal to decision-makers
The message included an explicit appeal to the country’s social actors and leaders, as well as those responsible for politics and the economy, to commit seriously to tolerance, coexistence, and peace. The bishop urged them to intervene to stop the shedding of innocent blood and bring wars and conflicts to an end, while also addressing environmental degradation and cultural and moral decline.
His appeal extended to intellectuals, philosophers, artists, media professionals, and religious leaders, whom he invited to promote justice, goodness, beauty, and human fraternity. For the bishop, believers’ responsibilities require active participation in building peace and must be reflected in their everyday decisions.
“From our beliefs, we are called to be partners in dialogue, to act in building peace not as mere intermediaries but as true protagonists,” he said. “Each of us is called to be an artisan of peace: bringing people together rather than dividing them, extinguishing hatred rather than feeding it, opening paths of dialogue rather than building new walls.”
Do not use God’s name to justify violence
Bishop Acero also presented the defense of religious freedom as a condition for peaceful coexistence. “Peace requires that every person’s conscience be respected and that everyone be able to live their faith without fear, coercion, or discrimination,” he said, calling for respect for religious beliefs in the places where people live and work.
In that context, he called for younger generations to be educated in religious values and teachings that promote human dignity and coexistence. He also warned that religions are stripped of their meaning when used to encourage hostility or legitimize bloodshed.
“Religions, faithful to their teachings, must not incite war or encourage feelings of hostility or violence. When they are used to justify bloodshed, their meaning is distorted and believers’ trust is abused to achieve political and economic ends,” he said.
The bishop called for an end to the manipulation of religion to incite hatred, extremism, and fanaticism, and for God’s name to no longer be used to justify murder, terrorism, oppression, or the expulsion of people from their homes. “God, the Almighty, does not need to be defended through violence, nor does he wish his name to be used to terrorize people,” he emphasized.
In response to such practices, he urged the strengthening of a culture of dialogue and encounter, as well as the ecumenical and interreligious journey built over the years, recognizing the contributions of people of different faiths to the common good.
Forty years since the Assisi gathering
Monday’s commemoration took place on the eve of the anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace on October 27, 1986. On that day, in a world marked by the Cold War and the nuclear threat, John Paul II brought representatives of Christian Churches and communities and of different religions together in Assisi to express their commitment to peace.
In his closing address, preserved by the Holy See, the pope explained that participants had prayed according to their respective traditions, fasted, and walked together. He also made clear that differences between their beliefs remained and that the gathering was not intended to reduce their different prayers to a common formula.
The gathering linked prayer with the responsibility to act: John Paul II insisted that praying for peace did not exempt people from working for it and noted that coexistence is built through everyday decisions and gestures. Four decades later, Bishop Acero’s message took up that responsibility and connected it with the wounds of Mexican society.
This year also marks eight centuries since the death of St. Francis of Assisi in 1226. Recalling his spirituality, the bishop invited people to recognize others as brothers and sisters, approach those of different beliefs with humility, and accompany those who suffer.
“May his greeting, ‘Peace and all good,’ be translated today into our commitment to building peace, respecting religious freedom, and accompanying searching families,” he said. “May the prayer that brings us together today continue in our decisions and in our deeds.”
Bishop Francisco Javier Acero with other religious leaders during the prayer for peace on October 26. Photo: Archdiocese of Mexico.
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