Mexico is facing a reality deeply marked by widespread violence and insecurity, much of which is linked to organized crime and drug trafficking groups. Communities experience the consequences of this situation on a daily basis: fear, a loss of trust, and the troubling sense that violence has become the norm.
In this challenging context, VIVAT Mexico, in collaboration with various religious congregations and local church groups, works to promote peace through dialogue, prayer, and community witness.
A Context of Violence and Insecurity
In recent years, Mexico has faced high levels of violence, especially in regions where criminal networks and drug trafficking groups operate. This growing insecurity affects not only people’s daily lives but also pastoral work, social participation, and the fabric of the community.
The wounds run deep, particularly among women, young people, and the most vulnerable. Faced with this reality, VIVAT Mexico recognizes that, while it cannot single-handedly resolve the country’s structural problems, it is called to be a sign of hope and not of violence.
Building a Culture of Peace Together
VIVAT Mexico works in coordination with various congregations and ecclesial organizations to foster a true culture of peace. The primary focus is dialogue for peace, integrating spiritual tools and concrete social actions.
Prayer and Parish Initiatives
A fundamental dimension of this commitment is prayer for peace.
Every July, Holy Hours for peace are held in various parishes, inviting communities to gather before the Blessed Sacrament to pray specifically for an end to violence, for reconciliation, and for the healing of the country.
Parishes thus become spaces where people can share their fears and hopes, and where the longing for peace is expressed visibly and communally.
Likewise, banners are being prepared for a Mobile Awareness Expo to be displayed in parishes and institutions. These materials will convey messages that:
- reject violence and hatred;
- call for dialogue, justice, and respect for life;
- encourage people to become peacemakers in their daily environments.
These initiatives help keep alive awareness of the urgency of building peace in towns, neighborhoods, churches, and community gatherings.
Social Media in the Service of Peace
Recognizing the power of digital communication, VIVAT Mexico also uses social media as a pastoral and awareness-raising tool.
Through these platforms, reflections, prayers, and information on peace initiatives are shared; messages promoting nonviolence and human dignity are disseminated; and greater participation in parish and community activities is encouraged.
Social media allows us to connect local efforts, strengthen hope, and reach out especially to young people, who are deeply affected by violence but also essential in building a different future.
Marches, public testimony, and their challenges
Mexico has also been the scene of numerous marches and demonstrations related to women’s rights, gender-based violence, International Women’s Day, and other demands for justice, security, and respect for human dignity.
VIVAT Mexico recognizes these mobilizations as important spaces to bring victims’ suffering to light, demand justice from the authorities, and express solidarity with the most vulnerable.
However, there is also concern that some groups may exploit these demonstrations to promote destruction, confrontation, or other actions that do not contribute to peace.
This poses a real tension: how to support legitimate demands for justice and rights while maintaining a clear evangelical commitment to nonviolence.
Although few concrete actions have yet been developed in this area, VIVAT Mexico wishes to accompany these processes in a way that gives a voice to victims and those who defend human dignity, always maintaining a focus on dialogue, respect, and constructive change.
Joining Forces for Nonviolence
In all these efforts—prayer, parish initiatives, social media, and public engagement—the keyword is unity.
It is about joining forces among congregations, ecclesial groups, and local communities; creating collaborative networks rather than isolated efforts; and helping people understand that building peace is everyone’s responsibility.
As Sr. Ewa emphasizes, the first task is to ask ourselves:
What can we do, concretely and together, to promote nonviolence and foster dialogue for peace in our reality?
The answer begins with small but consistent actions: praying together, denouncing violence, accompanying those who suffer, educating for peace, and refusing to give in to fear or indifference.
A Call to the VIVAT Network
For VIVAT Mexico, the path forward is clear, though demanding:
to strengthen dialogue for peace in parishes, towns, neighborhoods, and social media; to denounce violence and support those working for justice and reconciliation; and to deepen collaboration with other congregations and lay groups to multiply our efforts.
From this mission, VIVAT Mexico invites the entire VIVAT International network to pray for Mexico and for all peoples living in the shadow of violence; to share experiences and tools for building peace in contexts of insecurity; and to renew the conviction that, even in the most difficult situations, the Gospel of peace can take root and bear fruit.
Because peace does not begin with grand speeches, but with small, everyday acts of dialogue, listening, and hope.
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