The pope also used the open-air service in San Cristobal de las Casas to warn that the world faces “one of the greatest environmental crises” in its history.
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Such a move will help to “ensure the survival of the Catholic church” in the region, said Father Alejandro Solalinde, a priest known for his migrant and human rights activism in southern Mexico.
Francis’ blunt language came in a crime-ridden suburb considered more unsafe than traditional murder capitals such as Morelia and Ciudad Juarez, destinations the pope will visit Tuesday and Wednesday.
Yesterday he celebrated an outdoor mass before more than 300,000, which is the largest event of his historic six-day visit. In addition, Mexico City’s altitude of more than 7,000 feet provides a challenge to anyone not acclimatized, perhaps more for Francis who lost part of one lung as a young man.
On his final full day in Mexico, Pope Francis went to visit a pediatric hospital, where he blessed children and was blessed by them in return.
Francis may highlight the struggle of Central American migrants during his visit.
Pope Francis travels on Monday to Mexico’s poor, indigenous south, which has fallen far behind wealthier parts of the country and where he will authorize the use of native languages for Mass in a bid to stem a tide of Protestant conversions.
The first Latin American pope has already issued an apology for the Catholic Church’s colonial-era crimes against the continent’s indigenous and will celebrate indigenous culture, showing everyone has a role in Mexican society.
And he added, “In this regard, you have much to teach us”. “The indigenous people of Mexico still await true recognition of the richness of their contribution and the fruitfulness of their presence”.
The San Cristobal diocese was long led by the late Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who was famed for his efforts to evangelize among Chiapas state’s Indian communities – and who sometimes clashed with church leaders for allegedly bending church policy to reach out to them. “We are bishops. We spoke of our Churches”, Pope Francis said after his meeting with the patriarch, according to Catholic News Agency.
“Vatican II in liturgy finally comes to Chiapas”, said the Rev. Manuel Dorantes, an assistant Vatican spokesman who is from Mexico.
Paying homage to the culture and ancient wisdom of Mexico’s indigenous peoples, Pope Francis urged them to hold on to hope and condemned those who exploit their people and their land.
Two of the languages – Tzotzil and Tzeltal – were used for some of the readings and prayers during the pope’s Mass. And, after the pope read his homily in Spanish, it was translated for the many in the crowd who speak only their Mayan tongue. That number surges in Chiapas, where some 76 percent were poor and 32 percent in extreme poverty, the highest for any Mexican state.
It’s a message the Rodriguez family can’t wait to hear, whether they see the pope or not.
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“We walked 100 miles starting at a detention center in Baltimore and walked all the way to Washington D.C. We saw the pope and started collecting signatures and sent him a letter”, Herrera said.
