Pope Francis Urges Mexico to Battle Crime, Corruption Ahead of His Visit
Pope Francis, who will be visiting Mexico on Feb. 12 to Feb. 17, is urging the citizens to rally together in the face of violence and corruption.
According to a report from Fox News Latino, the pope talked to Mexico's Notimex news agency ahead of his visit to express his thoughts for the people in the country and his plans to join them in prayer for the resolution of the many issues in the world.
"I'm going to go to receive the best in you, and to pray with you that the problems of violence, corruption and all that you know is happening may be resolved," he said before pointing out that the Mexico that's plagued with drug trafficking and violence is not the one its patron saint Virgin of Guadalupe envisioned for the country.
The country has long been struggling with corruption and cartel violence, which have already killed over 100,000 people in the last 10 years, according to a report from Channel News Asia.
"Of course I don't want to cover up any of that," Francis clarified in the Fox News Latino report. "On the contrary, I exhort you to fight every day against corruption, against trafficking, against war, against division, against organized crime, against human smuggling."
While he is planning to address the plight of the men and women of Mexico, Francis revealed that he is not promising to be "one of the Three Kings" bringing all the solutions to the problems of the citizens. Instead, he is seeking to be one with the faithful.
"I'm going as a pilgrim, seeking for the Mexican people to give me something," Pope Francis said. "I'm not going to pass the collection plate, don't worry, but I'm going to seek the richness of faith that you have, I'm going to seek to become infected with the richness of faith that you have."
The pope will spend five days in Mexico, according to the report from Channel News Asia. He is set to reach out to many of the poor communities in the country including celebrating Mass with the indigenous community in Mexico's poorest state Chiapas. Also among his plans is to speak with young people in Morelia, capital of the Michoacan state that's known for its rising number of violence. Finally, Pope Francis will conclude his visit with a Mass in Ciudad Juarez, a town that used to have one of the world's highest murder rates.
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