Pope Francis Laments Violence In Mexico During Visit From Bishops

In a meeting with visiting bishops from the Mexican Episcopal Conference on Monday morning, Pope Francis lamented the “many forms of violence that afflict Mexican society, especially the young,” and went on to make explicit mention of clandestine migration and violence stemming from drug trafficking, according to La Jornada. “Drugs are a problem that [Mexicans] are suffering from in a serious way. When a peasant tells you, ‘What do you want me to do? If I grow corn I live for a month, if I grow ‘opium’ I live for a year.’ You all must always be with the people. It’s the only recommendation that I will make to you and it comes from the heart,” he said.

“It is certainly not for pastors to offer technical solutions or to adopt policy measures that are outside the scope of their pastoral ministry,” said the pontiff, the first to hail from Latin America. “However, they must be tireless in their proclamation, to all, of the Good News: that God, in his mercy, made Himself a man and made Himself poor, that he wanted to suffer with those who suffer in order to save them. Fidelity to Jesus Christ must be lived as committed solidarity and closeness to the people and their needs, offering Gospel values from within.”

Excelsior notes that more than 100 bishops from Mexico are participating in the “ad limina” visit to the Vatican -- typically made every five or six years -- from May 12-31, when they present a detailed report on conditions in the country. “As in many other Latin American countries, the history of Mexico cannot be understood without the Christian values that sustain the spirit of its people,” the pontiff told the bishops, adding, “Santa María de Guadalupe, patron saint of all of the Americas, is not far away in all this … with maternal tenderness she has contributed to the reconciliation and the liberation integral to the Mexican people, not with the sword and by force, but rather with love and faith.”