400 Children Kidnapped in Mexico Go Unreported by Parents
Families in Mexico have said that at least 400 children are missing due to organized crime in the country, with reports describing the Catholic Church as one of their only points of faith and hope.
"There are many cases of kidnapping. First there was talk of 50 but it seems that at least 400 have disappeared: But most of their families have not reported the kidnappings for fear," the father of one of the missing children said, according to Fides News Agency.
Children throughout the country are being taken as victims of drug trafficking and organized crime, and parents have criticized authorities on a number of occasions for not doing enough to help bring them back to their families.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The Fides report added that His Exc. Mgr. Luis Felipe Gallardo Martín del Campo, the Bishop of Veracruz, read a list of 23 missing persons in Tierra Blanca during Mass, and noted that the Church 'has become the only point of reference for many families in search of faith and hope.'
"Some time ago it was known that the armed gang of guerrillas in Sierra Guerrero enlisted people by force. Now the fact that drug trafficking and organized crime have entered in our society there is no control, the justice system has been destroyed, there is violence everywhere. And now the authorities do not know how to stop the problem," the bishop said.
Del Campo admitted that the Church has also not been spared such violence, noting that there have been over five cases of priests being kidnapped and later released, while parishes face constant robberies and extortion.
Mexico has been reeling by a number of missing persons cases, most notably the investigation into the fates of 43 students who were believed to have been taken by criminal gang members back in 2014. Although the attorney general has claimed that there is proof that the students were killed by the cartel, parents have staged protests and demanded to see hard evidence before they give up hope on their children being alive.
"We don't believe anything of what they say," said Carmen Cruz, the father of one of the missing students. "We are not going to allow this case to be closed."
As Pope Francis has pointed out, Mexico remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for priests as well. The Catholic community spoke out after a priest was found murdered in April with a bullet wound in his head and abandoned on a dirt road.
"United in prayer, we are indignant at the death of Father Francisco Javier Gutiérrez Díaz, of Capuchinas in Salvatierra Guanajuato. When will this end? Enough with so much blood spilled!" the office of the Archbishop of Morelia said in a statement at the time.
