Pope Francis delivers message of hope to Mexico’s poor
The pontiff bought a message of hope and solidarity to residents with a Mass featuring readings about not being tempted by the devil — a common exhortation from a pope who frequently invokes the threat of “the evil one”.
The Mass took place at an outdoor field with an estimated capacity of 400,000 and the Pope’s choice of Ecatepec for what was his biggest event in Mexico said volumes about his priorities.
The city of 1.6 million people is a sprawling carpet of breeze block slums mixed in with some better-off neighbourhoods.
It is also a strategic point for drug gangs that thrive amid the poverty and unemployment.
It was a strikingly different backdrop from the pageantry of Friday night’s red-carpet welcome at Mexico City airport, where President Enrique Pena Nieto and first lady Angelica Rivera greeted him alongside performances by folk dancers and mariachi musicians.
Conchita Tellez, 65, from the north-west Mexico border city of Mexicali, said she spent 38 hours on a bus to get to Ecatepec and was among the first in line for a spot at the Mass.
She expressed hope Francis could help ease the troubled soul of the country, where 100,000 people have been killed and 27,000 disappeared in gangland violence since Mr Pena Nieto’s predecessor launched an offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
“The pope comes to Mexico at a very ugly moment,” Tellez said.
“He comes to pray for us and for all those who lost hope and have submerged the country in blood and violence.”
Francis’ visit to Ecatepec came a day after his gruelling schedule appeared to be already taking a toll.
He seemed tired and winded at times on Saturday and appeared to nod off at an evening Mass and also lost his balance and fell into a chair set up for him to pray.
Latest on Pope: Pope Francis delivers a homily at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City https://t.co/0w6CnIPAqz
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 14, 2016
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