MEXICO CITY (CNS) — A Catholic nun was awarded Mexico’s top human rights award Dec. 10 for her work with the families of missing persons.

Sister Consuelo Morales, a member of the Congregation of Our Lady: Canonesses of St. Augustine, has advocated for and accompanied families whose loved ones disappeared in violence or problematic security crackdowns. The families often find the authorities indifferent to their plight, and organized their own searches – at least until Sister Consuelo intervened.

“She has given voice to the unprotected and has accompanied them in their demand for justice,” said President Enrique Peña Nieto at the award ceremony in Mexico City. “She has proposed substantive solutions as well.” The award raised awareness of missing persons in Mexico, where government statistics put the figure at over 25,000. It also put attention on the ministry of the nun, a prominent defender of human rights in northern Mexico.

“The human consequences of government and social indifference, which for many years prevailed, are immeasurable,” Sister Consuelo said. “We are speaking of thousands of families degraded by violence.”