Key Takeaways from AP Report on Mexican Mothers Searching for Their Missing Children

MEXICO CITY (AP) — At least 115,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 1952, according to official figures, but the true number is likely higher.

During the country’s “dirty war,” a conflict that lasted into the 1970s, the disappearances were attributed to government repression.

Over the past two decades, it has become increasingly difficult to track down the perpetrators and causes of disappearances as authorities in several states battle drug cartels and organized crime gains traction.

Human trafficking, kidnappings, reprisals and forced recruitment by cartel members are some of the reasons cited by human rights groups. Disappearances affect local communities and migrants traveling through Mexico in the hope of reaching the US.

Among the thousands of affected family members are mothers whose children have disappeared.

Below are some of the AP report’s findings about how some of these women have taken up the quest on their own, with the support of a number of religious leaders who offer spiritual guidance.

Why Mothers Search for Their Own Children

Diego Maximiliano was 16 years old when he disappeared in 2015 after leaving his home to meet friends. He and his mother, Verónica Rosas, lived in Ecatepec, a suburb of Mexico City where robberies, femicides and other violent crimes have plagued residents for decades.

Kidnappers took him away and asked for an amount that Rosas could not get. They apparently agreed to a lower amount, but Diego was never released.

To find their family members, people like Rosas initially rely on the authorities. But as time passes and no answers or justice are forthcoming, they take the search into their own hands.

They distribute bulletins with photos of the missing person. They visit morgues, prisons, and psychiatric facilities. They walk through neighborhoods where the homeless spend the day, wondering if their sons or daughters might be nearby, afflicted with drug abuse or mental health issues.

Three months after Diego’s disappearance, Rosas was tired of waiting for a response from the police. She opened a Facebook page called “Help me find Diego” and although she was afraid to leave her house, she began searching for him, dead or alive.

For three years, her search was lonely. Family members, colleagues and friends often distance themselves from people with missing relatives, claiming that “talking alone about their search” or “listening to them is too sad.”

It wasn’t until 2018 that Rosas joined an annual protest where thousands of mothers demanded answers and justice that she became aware of a broader problem. After meeting other women like her, she wondered: What if we used our collective power to our advantage?

And so, as other mothers in Mexican states like Sonora and Jalisco have done, Rosas founded an organization to provide mutual support for their quests. She called it “Uniendo Esperanzas,” or Gathering Hopes, and it currently supports 22 families, mostly from the State of Mexico.

How has the government responded to the disappearances?

Resentment and disappointment among Mexicans who have been victims of nationwide violence has grown recently.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Claudia Sheinbaum, who will succeed him on October 1, have consistently downplayed their relatives’ accusations and claimed that murder rates have fallen under the current administration.

But it’s not just the violence that’s galling to victims. On a recent night in the state of Zacatecas, a mother like Rosas stormed a congressional session. Soaked in tears, she screamed that she’d found her son — with a gunshot wound to the head — in the morgue. He’d been there since November 2023, she said, but authorities hadn’t informed her despite her tireless efforts to get information about what had happened to him.

What role does religion play in mothers’ quests?

Many religious leaders, regardless of their religious beliefs, are unwilling to address the disappearances in Mexico or to comfort anguished mothers.

“Not everyone has the sensitivity to endure such pain,” said Catholic Bishop Javier Acero, who regularly meets with mothers like Rosas. He urged that a Mass be celebrated for the first time in 2023 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to commemorate their disappeared children.

“But the number of disappearances continues to rise and the government does nothing about it. Where the state is absent, the church provides guidance,” Acero said.

Some mothers see him as an ally, and Catholic Church leaders have expressed concern about Lopez Obrador’s security policies since two Jesuit priests were killed in 2022. At the same time, some relatives of missing people say many Catholic priests, nuns and parishioners have shown little empathy for their grief.

Shortly after her son disappeared, Rosas rushed to a nearby parish and asked the priest to celebrate Mass so she could pray for Diego, but he refused.

She said he told her, “I can’t say that people are being kidnapped, ma’am. I encourage you to pray for the eternal rest of your son.”

In contrast, faith leaders from an ecumenical group called The Axis of Churches are consistently supportive. The members include Methodists, evangelicals, indigenous spiritual leaders, theologians and feminists. Sometimes they pray; other times they share a meal, draw mandalas or simply listen to the mothers.

“We have the legitimate hope of finding our treasures alive,” said the Rev. Arturo Carrasco, an Anglican priest who offers spiritual guidance to families of missing relatives. “We are not crazy and we understand that there is a risk that they are dead. But until we have proof of that, we will continue searching.”

Like Carrasco, Catholic nun Paola Clericó has walked with the mothers through muddy terrain where excavations were being conducted in search of human remains. They have celebrated mass in the middle of busy streets and beside canal drainages. They have joined them on visits to prisons and morgues, comforting them no matter what sorrow may come.

“We live with such deep pain that only God can help us endure it,” Rosas said. “If it wasn’t for that light, for that relief, I don’t think we would be able to stand anymore.”

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the AP’s partnership with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.