Originally published at Southern Cross
By Omar Millán
TIJUANA — Some personal stories shared around the table were so heart-breaking that listeners began to cry.
At eight tables covered with white linen, 48 people shared their testimony about being incarcerated, or suffering violence, or working with those affected by crime.
“My godfather raped me for 10 years, and my parents did not believe me,” one woman said.
“I lost my three children, my job, my life,” said another person, who had been wrongfully convicted of murder.
They were participants in a dialogue co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Tijuana and the Diocese of San Diego about restorative justice. It was the first binational dialogue along the U.S.-Mexico border that used a method the San Diego Diocese helped to develop to bring decision-makers in the criminal justice system and people affected by that system together to share their experiences.
The participants included crime victims, formerly incarcerated men and women, penitentiary officials, attorneys, religious women, social workers, priests, psychologists and volunteers.
The seven-hour gathering on Oct. 19 was held in the hall of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, located in the Guaycura colonia in eastern Tijuana.
The goal of restorative justice is to restore relationships that were damaged by
