Pope Francis had his most direct confrontation with Mexican cartel crime Tuesday when he visited Morelia, Mexico’s unofficial capital of drug trafficking.
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Pope Francis urged Mexican priests, nuns and seminarians today to not give up in the face of violence, drug trafficking and corruption as he visited a gang-plagued western state.
“It is a lie to believe that the only way to live, or to be young, is to entrust oneself to drug dealers or others who do nothing but sow destruction and death”, he said.
In his homily, Francis told priests and nuns not to be paralyzed by resignation, which he calls the devil’s “favorite weapon”.
On Wednesday, he will hold a large outdoor Mass in the Mexican city of Juarez, which is located just across the border from El Paso, Texas, and has been a violent front in the drug war.
Pope Francis has shown public signs of irritation for the first time on his trip to Mexico, snapping at over eager crowds. On Tuesday, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi responded, saying: “The pope always talks about migration problems all around the world, of the duties we have to solve these problems in a humane manner, of hosting those who come from other countries in search of a life of dignity and peace”.
Some of the hands reaching out to touch Pope Francis during his visit to Morelia, Mexico, became too forceful Tuesday, yanking the pontiff off-balance and drawing a stern look from the normally easy-going pontiff.
Suarez Inda was also part of a group of clergy from Michoacan and neighboring Guerrero state who prepared a report on Mexico’s drug violence past year that he said left Francis “very shocked and impressed”.
Between masses, the pope visited the city’s 17th century cathedral, where he met with children and was serenaded by a choir.
“Some think that…in order to be good Catholics we have to be like rabbits”.
“We want to feed our souls with this message”, Lavin said.
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Since 1988, 38 priests have been killed and two more are missing, according to the Catholic Multimedia Center, which tracks violence again religious people in Mexico. “Michoacan has suffered so much”.
