World Cup kicks off amid passion, protests in Mexico

(OSV News) — Mexico opened its third turn as a World Cup host with a 2-0 victory over South Africa June 11 at Mexico City’s iconic stadium, previously known as Estadio Azteca, but Catholic leaders urged fans not to lose sight of the country’s deeper challenges.

In a June 9 statement, the Mexican bishops’ conference recalled Pope Leo XIV’s June prayer intention, in which he prayed that “sport may always be a school of fraternity, not of empty rivalry, a space of encounter, not exclusion, a path of peace, not violence.”

The bishops said that “teams compete to show us that rivalry can be an opportunity for growth and competition, space for encounter and mutual respect.”

Turning their focus closer to home, they said, however, that “we experience many rivalries that often overshadow our peaceful coexistence: political, economic, ideological, and social rivalries, and even the struggle for life.”

These rivalries, the bishops said, “can become schools of fraternity instead of empty rivalries; spaces for dialogue and encounter instead of hatred and exclusion; paths to peace instead of violence. This requires opening ourselves to the richness of our brothers and sisters and treating each other with dignity.”

The bishops concluded, “In a world marked by tensions and conflicts, and a country wounded by violence, disappearances, corruption, and injustice, sport should not be a distraction from these pains, but rather a privileged opportunity to put our differences at the service of justice, truth, and peace.”

The World Cup commenced amid tensions in Mexico. Sections of the national teachers’ union — known for disruptive demonstrations and constantly abandoning the classroom for the picketline — clashed with police and attempted to block access to the national capital’s main airport and Mexico City stadium.

Truckers, who face rampant theft on the country’s highways, also protested ahead of the World Cup, as well as families of Mexico’s missing, who marched on the eve of the opening match, calling attention to the more than 100,000 people who disappeared in the country’s drug war.

“In this country, we ourselves are the ones who search,” for the disappeared loved ones, “given the negligence, incapacity, and complicity of the state,” said a communique from the groups protesting, distributed by the Jesuit-sponsored Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center.

“This action is designed to take advantage of the platform Mexico has become as host of the World Cup, and thereby draw millions of eyes to the reality faced by the families of the more than 133,000 disappeared persons.”

Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said the federal government was investigating the individuals allegedly behind the families’ protests in western Jalisco state, where four matches will occur in the state capital, Guadalajara.

“Football is revealing the lack of a policy to resolve conflicts stemming from the country’s insecurity,” Jesuit Father Jorge Atilano, director of the National Dialogue for Peace, a Catholic initiative for peace building, told OSV News.

“The absence of such a policy is glaring. It shouldn’t be limited to specific situations; it needs to be a permanent approach, focused on resolving and transforming these problems.”

Mexico is hosting the World Cup for the third time — having welcomed the world previously in 1970 and 1986 — with Mexican fans clad in green jerseys celebrating their opening victory in the streets.

Only 13 of the 104 matches will take place in Mexico — in the cities of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. While the majority of matches will be played in the U.S., Canada also hosts 13 matches in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto.

Organizers have drawn criticism for high ticket prices, while observers say the lead up to the tournament has received less enthusiasm than the previous tournaments in Mexico.

“Amidst the camaraderie and the World Cup, there are people suffering,” said Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Javier Acero Pérez of Mexico City in a June 9 discussion organized by the Instituto Mexicano de Doctrina Social Cristiana, a think tank.

“Despite the exorbitant prices of tickets, some struggle to make ends meet. We cannot allow sport to become a shameful business for the benefit of a privileged few.”

The FIFA World Cup takes place in 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The final takes place July 19 at MetLife Stadium, what FIFA dubs the New York/New Jersey Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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