BREAKING Catholic Church in Mexico Releases Peace Manifesto Following Gathering of Over 1,300 at National Dialogue for Peace

The Catholic Church in Mexico, led by its bishops, is driving the "National Dialogue for Peace" to combat rampant violence and extortion, with a major assembly in Guadalajara (Jan 30–Feb 1, 2026). This initiative, has gathered over 20,000 testimonies to create a National Peace Agenda and advocate for victims. They issued a final Manifesto (see full text below) and demand that authorities address the security crisis.

The initiative was organized by the Mexican Bishops' Conference (CEM), the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Orders, and the Jesuits of Mexico; it was sparked by the 2022 murder of two priests; Jesuit priests Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora in Chihuahua.  

Over 1,300 leaders gathered, at the ITESO Jesuit university in Guadalajara. This included social leaders, religious figures, bishops, priests, academics, business leaders, students, and local authorities participated from January 30 to February 1 in the National Dialogue for Peace, with a central objective: to rebuild peace from the local level with a national vision and verifiable commitments.

This second meeting yielded three key takeaways:

1. The State belongs to all of us, and peace requires collective agreements from the local level; this implies the conversion of those who profit from violence and those who remain indifferent to it.
2. It is urgent to build a social system that integrates today's excluded and vulnerable youth, and it is important to listen to them and build together with them.
3. A new coexistence will not be possible without addressing and healing the wound of missing persons and providing priority support to victims of violence.

Final Statement of the 2nd National Dialogue for Peace

(ITESO, Guadalajara, Jalisco, February 1, 2026). From January 30 to February 1, at ITESO, the Jesuit University of Guadalajara, more than 1,200 social, religious, academic, business leaders, local authorities, and representatives of civil society from all over the country met for the Second National Dialogue for Peace, a pluralistic space to confront the reality of violence in Mexico, share peacebuilding methodologies, and articulate responses commensurate with the historical moment the nation is experiencing.

The meeting brought together voices from all regions of the country, reflecting the diversity of contexts, pains and hopes that Mexico is experiencing today, with a common goal: to rebuild peace from the local level, with a national vision and collective commitment.

During the Dialogue, three keynote lectures were held.

Academic Mauricio Merino addressed the structural causes of violence in Mexico, emphasizing the urgency of restoring the State as a space for collective agreements that provides an institutional framework for social life.

Father Elias Lopez reflected on the challenges of national reconciliation, highlighting the need to form community and synodal leaders capable of building proposals based on listening.

For his part, Monsignor Ramón Castro emphasized that building peace requires listening, discerning and acting; it is a vocation of every person to seek a social order of harmonious relationships, putting the victims at the center and convinced that peace is only achieved if there is truth, justice and reparation.

Additionally, roundtables were held to analyze the country's main challenges. Dr. Alfonso Alfaro called for envisioning a state capable of integrating young people currently trapped by violence. Sandra Ley emphasized the urgent need to strengthen municipal police forces. Sergio López Ayllón proposed civic justice as a concrete path forward at the local level. Daniel Moreno underscored the importance of incorporating the media as strategic actors in peacebuilding. Alberto Olvera called for strengthening alliances with civil society. Elena Azaola highlighted the ongoing issue of prisons. Sara González, a university student, outlined the challenges of activating youth participation. And José Medina Mora presented the Inclusive Development Model as a contribution from the business sector to peace.

In three additional roundtables, national and international peacebuilding experiences were shared, confirming that viable paths with concrete results exist in the field. Among these, the VIVA Project and the Manresa Centers in the Sierra Tarahumara stood out, having provided mental health services to more than 8,000 people, as well as collaborative experiences with the federal government in designing Peace and Civic Justice Councils. The ambassadors of Ireland, Ruairí De Burca, and of Norway, Dag Nylander, agreed that any peace process must be built in conjunction with the victims of violence and offer pathways to reintegration for perpetrators.

The Dialogue also included the presence of mayors and municipal representatives recognized for their work in building peace, from Centro, Tabasco; Escobedo and San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León; Guadalajara, Zapopan and Jocotepec, Jalisco; Meoqui, Chihuahua; Cherán, Michoacán; and Tepoztlán, Morelos, who joined this effort as key actors from the local level.

Similarly, various religious communities signed a joint commitment and presented a collaborative work plan. Representatives from Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Indigenous traditions, Orthodox, Baptist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Catholic communities participated, pledging to educate themselves to address the challenges of violence, contribute the ethical richness of their spiritualities, and foster dialogue and understanding among religious diversity in Mexico.

During the event, 13 companies committed to building a culture of peace in their communities received awards. This distinction was presented by CONCANACO-SERVYTUR, COPARMEX, CANACINTRA, and USEM, and the winning companies were: La Norteñita, Bio TecLab, CEDIMI Laboratories, Centro de Acopio y Soluciones Ambientales, Combuservicios, Controladora Vía Rápida Poetas, Criser, Estructuras Metálicas de Puebla, Grupo La Paz, La Vencedora, Restaurante Mar y Tierra, Talentoría, and Desarrolladora Comuna.

The peacebuilding methodologies systematized by this movement will be delivered to the federal, state, and municipal governments of the country, providing pathways for peacebuilding through proven programs addressing violence. These methodologies were also delivered to the nine mayors present at the National Dialogue for Peace.

The conclusions highlighted that the great challenge is to imagine and rebuild the State that Mexico needs to recover peace, based on agreements that regulate institutional life and guarantee dignified living conditions for all people.

The meeting concluded with the reading of a manifesto, which stated that the path to peace involves rebuilding the community through listening, recognition and commitment, opening horizons of hope for young people and walking alongside the victims, with the culture of care as a cross-cutting theme.

Manifesto for Peace

For those we are searching for, for those who have been victims of violence, and for those who come after them, we write this manifesto.

In the National Dialogue for Peace, we decided not to accept that the future of children be mortgaged due to a lack of conditions for their development. We decided not to negotiate human dignity in exchange for economic or political interests. We refuse to be indifferent to the pain and the lives hanging by a thread. And we reject all complicity in the face of structural and systemic violence.

We propose to rebuild the community , to construct new ways of meeting, of listening to one another, of navigating conflicts, of reaching agreements, of demanding, of offering, of resisting, of being with others. A different way of caring for vulnerability, of preserving life, of making futures possible, from the family to the state, including the school, the neighborhood, the workplace, the parish, the district, with a view to building a broad , open, and engaged "we," and to sustaining an organized hope directed toward action.

Every step, every conversation, every agreement, every methodology we decide to implement, we will do so with the awareness that, through the National Dialogue, we are redefining our way of being a community , whether those actions are focused on mental health, the environment, the police, victims, youth, schools, migrants, public officials, businesses, or universities. Thus,

• There will be peace when we make visible, reject and find alternatives to the violence of which we are a part;
• There will be peace when we are able to be moved and acted upon by the pain of others;
• There will be peace when each individual and each sector decides to be a voice of co-responsibility and work, but also of demand and denunciation , a voice that does not tolerate injustice, hatred, impunity;
• There will be peace when we recover our collective capacity to care and be cared for , when, in front of the eyes of children, we assume the responsibility of building the conditions for their future to be possible .
• There will be peace when the cost of remaining silent and indifferent is unpayable;

For you, for me, for those who are coming, for those who are no longer here.

We are PEACE. We will be MORE.

 

Sign this Manifesto for Peace at this link: DNP Manifesto