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“God Is Present in Their Struggle”: Director of the National Dialogue for Peace on Mexico’s Mothers Searching for the Disappeared
Father Jorge Atilano González Candia explains to Press Crux how faith, listening, and accompaniment sustain families of missing persons in Mexico. The initiative he leads was born in the aftermath of the murder of two Jesuit priests in Cerocahui in 2022 and seeks to transform the victims’ suffering into pathways toward peace and justice.
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
10/27/20266 min read
Signing of commitments for peace in the state of Coahuila, Mexico, in 2024.
MEXICO CITY — Families searching for missing loved ones need to find in the Church a community that listens to them, prays with them, and supports their efforts to uncover the truth. That is the message of Father Jorge Atilano González Candia, a Jesuit priest and executive director of the National Dialogue for Peace, who sees the perseverance of mothers searching for their missing children as an expression of courage and faith: “God is present in their struggle.”
In an interview with Press Crux, the priest outlines concrete steps parishes can take: welcome families into their churches, raise awareness of their searches, place photographs of their loved ones on altars, and remember them by name during services. The goal, he says, is “for them to see the Church as an ally in their struggles and their searches.”
A search that brings thousands of families together
Mexico faces violence linked to organized crime that leaves people murdered, threatened, or missing, with families left wondering where their loved ones are and what happened to them. In the absence of answers, many mothers organize searches, circulate photographs, and look for possible clandestine burial sites. They are known in Mexico as madres buscadoras, or searching mothers. Their groups also include fathers, siblings, wives, and other relatives. According to Reuters, those conducting searches often face threats, and many cases remain unsolved, deepening distrust of the authorities.
National records reflect the scale of the crisis. In a report published on March 27, 2026, The Associated Press said Mexico had approximately 130,000 missing people and reported criticism from search groups over the government’s review of those records. That figure reflected the total at the time. The news agency explained that disappearances had increased since the government launched its campaign against drug trafficking in 2006.
For Father Atilano, behind those numbers are families who have learned how to search and support one another through years of uncertainty. “It is remarkable how these women are doing work the state has been unable to do,” he says. Their efforts, he adds, inspire others to get involved and stand alongside them.
Cerocahui: The tragedy that gave rise to the movement
The National Dialogue for Peace began in 2022, following a tragedy that shook the Catholic Church in Mexico. On June 20 of that year, Jesuit Fathers Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín Mora Salazar were murdered in Cerocahui, a community in the Sierra Tarahumara region of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. Tour guide Pedro Palma was also killed.
In a statement released the following day, the Society of Jesus said the priests had tried to protect a man who sought refuge in the church while being pursued by an armed individual. The violence had claimed the lives of two priests who had devoted themselves to serving the region’s communities.
That loss set in motion a process of listening and organizing. According to an account of the movement’s history published by the Society of Jesus, the Dialogue brings together the Jesuits of Mexico, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM), the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious of Mexico, and the bishops’ office for the laity, in collaboration with civil society. Its purpose is to promote reconciliation, justice, and the rebuilding of community ties damaged by violence.
Two national gatherings to develop responses
The process has included two major national gatherings, along with local forums and working sessions. The first took place September 21–23, 2023, at Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, in central Mexico. It brought together participants from different sectors to hear people’s experiences, connect initiatives, and work toward a national peace agenda.
More than two years later, the second gathering took place from January 30 to February 1, 2026, at ITESO, a Jesuit university in Guadalajara, in western Mexico. According to the final statement, more than 1,200 community leaders, religious leaders, academics, business leaders, local officials, and representatives of civil society organizations participated.
Both gatherings are part of an effort to turn listening to victims into sustained action. For families searching for missing loved ones, Father Atilano describes support that extends from parish life to meetings with public officials.
The faces of Mexico’s missing reached the pope
In October 2026, that work also found expression at the Vatican. As Press Crux reported, Bishop Ramón Castro Castro of Cuernavaca, president of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, presented Pope Leo XIV with a document containing photographs of people missing in Mexico and received his promise of prayer.
The initiative grew out of a campaign called “One Name, a Thousand Voices.” In an October 9, 2026, post, the National Dialogue for Peace explained that the book brought together missing-person profiles and photographs submitted by families and search groups. Each entry preserved a name, a face, and details of the disappearance: a record of someone whose family has never stopped searching.
Opening churches and learning to listen
“When a family turns to the Church, they are looking for comfort, for someone who will listen,” Father Atilano explains. For that reason, he believes support begins with a willingness to welcome people who arrive carrying their grief and a photograph of a loved one.
The priest points to listening centers and services or rituals held as searches begin as places where families can express their suffering, hear words of hope, and pray together. He acknowledges, however, that the Church’s response needs “greater openness, greater sensitivity,” as well as better preparation to respond to these situations.
Among the initiatives he describes are peace mailboxes, which families bring to churches to raise awareness within their communities. After a reflection session, people can leave messages of hope or information that might help locate those who remain missing. Families later collect and review the material to help guide their searches.
Support also requires truth and justice
The work has included dialogue sessions between families searching for missing loved ones and federal or state officials. According to the priest, these meetings have helped officials better understand the families’ experiences, provided opportunities to present technical proposals, and expedited some searches, although resistance persists. “We see a lack of will to resolve the problem,” he warns.
Father Atilano identifies two main obstacles: the crisis in the forensic system and the crisis in prosecutors’ offices, the institutions responsible for investigating crimes. These involve distinct but related tasks: identifying people whose remains have been found and determining what happened to those who are still missing.
Shortcomings are also evident in official data. In a March 27, 2026, report, Reuters said that fewer than 10% of a group of more than 43,000 complete records, for which no activity had been detected in other government databases, were linked to a criminal investigation. The finding applied to that specific set of records and illustrated the gap between recording a disappearance and investigating it.
The faith that sustains the search
Through his work with families, the priest has been struck by their patience, determination, and courage, as well as the knowledge they have acquired in their efforts to find any clue to their loved ones’ whereabouts. From a faith perspective, standing alongside them means recognizing God’s presence in that suffering and in the strength that allows them to keep going.
For those who want to help, he suggests contacting the National Dialogue for Peace and starting listening circles within their families or schools. His invitation to Catholic communities begins with a simple gesture: ensuring that anyone who enters a church carrying a photograph of a missing loved one finds someone willing to hear their story, pray with them, and support their search.
Members of the National Dialogue for Peace meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin in Mexico City on August 5, 2026.
A mother searching for her missing child at a National Dialogue for Peace gathering. Photo courtesy of Fr. Jorge Atilano, S.J.
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