Pope tackles Mexico's ill in speech

The two religious leaders, guests of a communist government, are addressing ways of healing the rift between their churches as well as their concerns

Feb 14, 2016

By Melinda Barton
It will be a strikingly different backdrop from the pageantry of Friday night's red-carpet welcome at the Mexico City airport, where President Enrique Pena Nieto and first lady Angelica Rivera greeted Francis alongside performances by folkloric dancers and mariachi musicians.

Donald Trump was on Fox Business recently and complained about a planned appearance by Pope Francis in Mexico, equating it to implied political or crony allegiances for Mexico and against America.

Earlier, he and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill called for restored Christian unity during talks in Cuba.

The two religious leaders, guests of a communist government, are addressing ways of healing the rift between their churches as well as their concerns over the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

Pope Francis kisses a child in a wheelchair, at Mexico City's main sqaure, the Zocalo, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.

On Friday, Pope Francis arrived in the capital to adoring crowds waving yellow handkerchiefs.

There has been speculation that the pope might also meet with relatives of the 43 missing students.

Pope Francis opened a long-anticipated visit to Mexico on Saturday, demanding that Mexican leaders provide "true justice" and security in a country wracked by years of endemic drug violence, official corruption and poverty.

The welcome contrasted sharply with the pope's subsequent pointed criticism of how church and state leaders in Mexico have failed their people, especially the poor and marginalised.

Pope Francis urged Mexican bishops Saturday to take on drug trafficking with "prophetic courage", warning that it represents a moral challenge to society and the church. Some Mexicans are looking to him to take that even further while he's here.

In a nod to his thrifty ways, three of the five popemobiles Francis will use are being recycled from his US trip in September.

Francis moves around the Vatican in a Ford Focus and tends to stick with economy cars when traveling.

In his speech, Francis said public officials responsible for the common good must be honest and upright and not be seduced by privilege or corruption.

Drug-trafficking gangs have infiltrated police forces across the country and more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the last decade.

Francis told President Enrique Pena Nieto and assembled lawmakers in Mexico City that they have a responsibility to help citizens gain access to "indispensable material and spiritual goods", including housing, employment and a peaceful environment.

"To actually see him and then receive, you know, have him say the Mass, what an incredible delight that would be".

Thousands of faithful have greeted Pope Francis at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where he is to celebrate the first Mass of his visit to the country.

"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. Bundled against the morning chill, tens of thousands of people line his motorcade route to the city's colonial heart. Francis is the first pope to enter Mexico's National Palace.

Lining up along the route to the Basilica, I spoke to one woman who had come from Los Angeles to see the Pope - two years ago she had been given six months to live after being diagnosed with cancer. "I think (the speech) was good, and hopefully it will be able to change things".

On a broad avenue leading to the Zocalo, hundreds of people waited for hours for the pope to arrive. He will finish his five-day visit by a very symbolic Mass facing the U.S. border city of El Paso.--Thelakeandeswave.com