(Vatican Radio) As is tradition, Pope Francis has sent telegrams to the heads of state of the countries his plane flies over on Friday as he travels to Havana, and then to Mexico.
The telegrams to the European countries the Pope has flown over are presented here in their original languages
Italy
A SUA ECCELLENZA
ON. SERGIO MATTARELLA
PRESIDENTE DELLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA
PALAZZO DEL QUIRINALE 00187 ROMA
NEL MOMENTO IN CUI LASCIO ROMA PER RECARMI IN MESSICO PER SOSTENERE LA MISSIONE DELLA CHIESA LOCALE E PORTARE UN MESSAGGIO DI SPERANZA, MI E’ CARO RIVOLGERE A LEI, SIGNOR PRESIDENTE, IL MIO DEFERENTE SALUTO, CHE ACCOMPAGNO CON FERVIDI AUSPICI PER IL BENESSERE SPIRITUALE, CIVILE E SOCIALE DEL POPOLO ITALIANO, CUI INVIO VOLENTIERI LA BENEDIZIONE APOSTOLICA
FRANCISCUS PP.
France
HIS EXCELLENCY FRANCOIS HOLLANDE
PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
PARIS
I SEND CORDIAL GREETINGS TO YOUR EXCELLENCY AS I FLY OVER FRANCE ON MY WAY TO MEXICO. I ASSURE YOU AND ALL THE CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF A REMEMBRANCE IN MY PRAYERS, AND I INVOKE UPON EACH OF YOU GOD’S BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND JOY.
FRANCIS PP
Spain
HIS MAJESTY FELIPE VI
KING OF SPAIN
ZARZUELA PALACE
MADRID
I SEND CORDIAL GREETINGS TO YOUR MAJESTY AND THE ROYAL FAMILY AS I FLY OVER SPAIN ON MY WAY TO MEXICO. I ASSURE YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION OF A REMEMBRANCE IN MY PRAYERS, AND I INVOKE UPON EACH OF YOU GOD’S BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND JOY.
FRANCIS PP
Portugal
HIS EXCELLENCY ANIBAL CAVACO SILVA
PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC
LISBON
I SEND CORDIAL GREETINGS TO YOUR EXCELLENCY AS I FLY OVER PORTUGAL ON MY WAY TO MEXICO. I ASSURE YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION OF A REMEMBRANCE IN MY PRAYERS, AND I INVOKE UPON EACH OF YOU GOD’S BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND JOY.
FRANCIS PP
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted the reporters who joined him on the plane Friday for his apostolic journey to Havana – for a brief meeting with Russian Patriarch Kirill – and Mexico.
The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said the Holy Father had a “beautiful meeting” with the journalists, and called the journey “very important.”
Father Lombardi said the Pope noted it was the final apostolic trip of Alberto Gasbarri, the coordinator of papal journeys, and thanked him for his 47 years of service to the Vatican.
The dean of the Holy See Press Corps, Valentina Alazraki of Mexico’s “Televisa”, gave Pope Francis a sombrero to celebrate his journey to her native country. The Holy Father also revealed to the journalists she gave him some films starring the Mexican comedian Cantinflas earlier in the week to help him prepare for his trip, which Pope Francis said were a “good laugh.”
“My deepest desire is to pause before Our Lady of Guadalupe, this mystery that is studied, and studied, and studied, and there is no human explanation,” Pope Francis said on the plane, adding even scientists say the image is “a thing of God.”
Wall Street Journal correspondent Francis X. Rocca sent a Facebook message from the plane describing an “unusual” and “moving” encounter, with Noel Diaz of ESNE Catholic television in Los Angeles.
“As a child in his native Tijuana, Mexico, Diaz shined shoes for money. So today he knelt down in the aisle and shined the pope’s shoes, then gave him a custom-made shoeshine kit,” Rocca writes. “Diaz told the pope he intended these presents as reminders of the unheralded struggles of ordinary, honest people across Mexico and among immigrants to the U.S.”
Responding to press reports of a papal visit to Colombia, Pope Francis said he could visit the country in 2017 if peace talks between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) continue to go forward.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Speaking on the eve of Pope Francis’ departure for Mexico, the (Vatican) Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Church there is called “to condemn evil and speak up against all negative phenomena such as corruption, drug trafficking, violence and crime which are hindering and delaying the spiritual and material progress of the country.” The cardinal’s remarks came in an interview with the Vatican Television Centre (CTV).
Asked about the main themes of the Pope’s pastoral visit to Mexico, Cardinal Parolin said these themes are common to all his travels and his pontificate such as the themes of “mercy, justice, peace and hope.” However, he said they also include those which are particularly relevant to Mexico as a nation, such as the deep faith of its people and their extraordinary Marian devotion and the amazing culture, both of the nation and its people, including the indigenous communities. The Cardinal said the Pope will also touch on the more negative issues in Mexico such as organized crime, drug trafficking and poverty.
Noting that Pope Francis will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe during his visit, the Secretary of State agreed that this papal journey will have a strong Marian component given the deep devotion of Mexicans for their country’s patron saint, who he said is “right at the centre and the heart” of their history and their lives. He said he was always very moved when he saw “how much veneration and how much trust” are placed in Our Lady of Guadalupe by the people of Mexico.
The theme of this papal visit to Mexico is “Pope Francis: Missionary of mercy and peace” and when asked how this journey can be seen within the context of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Cardinal Parolin said he believed that through his presence in Mexico the Pope wishes to be “a help to the nation, to the Church of that nation to rediscover and live in its daily life, the proclamation and witness of mercy.” The Cardinal also noted that Pope Francis will meet with a wide variety of people to remind everybody about this challenge to embrace mercy in daily life, from the politicians through to the indigenous people. He said the Pope will be reminding all those he meets during his trip of this need to be merciful.
Asked about the challenges facing the Church in Mexico, Cardinal Parolin said a definite challenge is to condemn “the evil” that is present, “and speak up against all negative phenomena such as corruption, drug trafficking, violence and crime which are hindering and delaying the spiritual and material progress of the country.” The local Church, he continued, also needs to act like” the Good Samaritan” when faced with so many people who suffer and are in need. The cardinal also mentioned the problem of migration and its often negative impact on families who get split up. As ever, Cardinal Parolin said, the Church’s main challenge is to educate the consciences of the people and speak up against the idolatry of money and other negative phenomena. When it comes to the evils of forced migration, arms and drug trafficking, he said Pope Francis will be urging people to fight against these problems and above all to change their hearts.
Turning to Friday’s meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, Cardinal Parolin described this historic meeting as “a great sign of hope” and also an event that gives us the courage to continue to push ahead in the effort to build “an understanding, a meeting and a dialogue.” The Cardinal also said he believed that this meeting in Cuba will have “a big impact” on the ecumenical journey.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis departed Rome Friday morning on his way to Mexico for a weeklong pastoral visit that will take him to Mexico City, to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe , and to some of the country’s most poor and violent towns on the margins of society. On his way to Mexico as the first Latin American pontiff to travel there, Pope Francis is to make a brief stop in Havana, Cuba for a meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. The recently-added visit to the papal itinerary is being seen by many as a highly anticipated, historic step towards healing the wounds of division after a schism divided Christianity 1,000 years ago.
Mexico prison fire, riot casts shadow over papal visit
But the Pope’s visit to Mexico has been overshadowed by the deaths of at least 49 inmates at a prison in the north of the country. Fire broke out after a brawl between rival gangs at the overcrowded Topo Chico penitentiary turned into a riot, injuring a further 12.
Vatican Radio’s Veronica Scarisbrick is in Mexico City ahead of the Pope’s arrival. She says there’s no doubt that the tragedy will be weighing heavily on the Pope’s thoughts during his visit…
Listen to Veronica Scarisbrick’s report:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis took off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport this morning on an Apostolic visit to Mexico. While there he will celebrate Mass in the Basilica of Guadalupe, meet with families and young people and there will be a Meeting with the World of Culture. He will also make a visit to city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and celebrate Holy Mass with the indigenous community of Chiapas. Our Correspondent Veronica Scarisbrick who is awaiting Pope Francis in Mexico, found out more about the community and it’s much loved late Bishop.
Listen:
The late Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia is an iconic figure in Mexico. You may have heard of him, he lived and worked for many years in the southern state of Chiapas along the border with Guatemala. That’s from 1959 to 1999.
Precisely at San Cristobal de Las Casas where Pope Francis will go on Monday 15th of February and where he’ll celebrate Holy Mass at the City’s Sports Centre with the Mayan indigenous community.
Here in Mexico I caught up with someone who worked closely with him and eventually inherited the diocese. He’s Bishop Raul Vera Lopez a Dominican who describes the time spent with his predecessor as ‘a moment of grace from God’.
Bishop Ruiz was once a familiar figure in his diocese, often perceived riding on the back of a mule along the highland paths on the way to visit the people of one of the villages or towns of his diocese. Speaking to the people there in their own Mayan languages by the unpronounceable names.
But while he was very much loved by the local people who lived in extreme poverty, he was also criticised by the local government and by Rome. Because he had begun to apply the teachings he had learnt both during the Second Vatican Council and from the Medellin Conference of Latin American Bishops. Empowering the indigenous people to defend their cultures and traditions and founding the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas human rights centre.
Over the years Bishop Vera has drawn inspiration from his example and has promoted human rights in every possible way. Recently in a special way he assists parents and families of ‘desaparecidos’ through an organisation by the name of FUNDEC.
Importantly in December he made it his mission to travel to Rome to inform Pope Francis of the current situation in Mexico regarding human rights. To make quite sure Francis might prepare his Apostolic visit in touch with the reality in the nation today
(from Vatican Radio)…