Pope Francis's Busy Day in Mexico

Feb 14, 2016

MEXICO CITY: Mexico has been racked by drug-related violence over the past decade, with well over 100,000 lives lost since 2006.

The pope urged the political class gathered in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace to bring a “real justice” and “effective security” to the population, while the country plagued by endemic violence, is overshadowed by a battle between two rival clans who made 49 dead in prison in Monterrey (northeast).

“It’s the Mexican president, of course, who has the most to gain from basking in the glow of one of the world’s most popular figures”, Chesnut told AFP.

“The results of this allow me to assure you that the two Churches will continue to work closely together with Christians in all the world, and with full responsibility to work together against war, so that human life can develop in the entire world”.

Although Mexico faces many struggles and challenges, Pope Francis asked the Bishops to embrace the future with a unified vision without losing sight of the destination.

Chronic violence and corruption will be themes of his visit to the world’s second most populous Roman Catholic country, and he will address the plight of migrants trying to reach the United States with a service at the northern border next week. “And first of all, persecution of Christians in Syria, the Middle East and Central Africa – in any places where a true genocide is being carried out against the Christian population”. “This reflects the good relationship between the Holy See and Mexico”, Pena Nieto said. In addition to stating this goal shared by the two churches, the declaration also touches upon the issue of traditional family values. This is a meeting between a nation and faith. But the arrival of Pope Francis this weekend signals something different – in part, but not only, because he’s the first Latin American pontiff.

Ukrainians, Catholic or not, have expressed concerns about Pope Francis’ meeting with Patriarch Kirill given the patriarch’s apparently close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time of ongoing fighting in Eastern Ukraine.

“We spoke as brothers”, Pope Francis said. “His presence fills us with hope”.

The Mexico trip was preceded by a short but historic stop in Cuba Friday where Francis met with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.

After meeting Mr Pena Nieto, Pope Francis will make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which houses the image of a dark-skinned Virgin Mary on a piece of fabric.

The basilica is home to an image of the Virgin that is said to have miraculously imprinted itself on a cloak belonging to the indigenous peasant Juan Diego in 1531.

“The pope’s encounter with Guadalupe will be monumental – he’s strongly Marian and she’s not only Queen of Mexico but Empress of the Americas”, Chesnut said.

Irene Ramirez, 32, a nurse in Mexico City said El Chapo does more for the poor in Mexico.

Speaking at Mexico City’s cathedral later on Saturday, Francis urged Mexican bishops to take on drug trafficking with “prophetic courage”, warning that it represents a moral challenge to Mexican society as a whole, and not just the Church. “I don’t want to cover up any of that”.

Such hoped-for progress may seem naive, since the Russian church has always been reluctant to engage in theological dialogue over the primacy of the pope, said the Rev. Stefano Caprio, one of the first priests to arrive in Russia in 1989 to minister to the Catholic community and now a professor of Russian history and culture at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

On Sunday, Francis will celebrate an open air Mass in Ecatepec, one of the many suburbs of the capital hit by spiraling crime.--Jewocity.com