The Pope’s long silent prayer before the
unique and greatly venerated image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, was
inspiring. The important moment was hoped for, asked for, announced and then
emphasized by Pope Bergoglio in his addresses and homilies in Mexico City,
beginning with his speech to authorities in the National Palace, the symbolic
seat of political power that for the first time opened its doors to a Pontiff. Francis
is the third Pope to visit the great North American country, and at the
beginning of the meeting with bishops in the Cathedral, he asked how “could the
Successor of Peter, called from faraway Latin America” not “rest his gaze on la
Morenita [dark-skinned] Virgin”? Likewise, how could he not want Mary’s
maternal gaze upon him? The
very gaze of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where “the secret heart of each Mexican” is
found, was chosen by the Pontiff as the common thread for the long and
challenging reflection that characterized his meeting with the country’s
bishops. In his international journeys, Pope Francis has always reserved ample
and significant space for this moment, which achieves Catholic communion and
true pastoral sharing. It was the same this time too. The
central image of the Pope’s address to the Mexican episcopate was therefore
that of the gaze: both of la Morenita , and also of those who
contemplate her and in their turn have the responsibility to look to others, to
offer them the womb of Christian faith and to reflect the tenderness of God.
Bishops need to give this particular attention to young people, the Pontiff
said. Above all, and with powerful expressions, he called them to courageously
confront the demoralizing phenomena of drug trafficking which, he said,
“devours like a metastasis”. Indeed,
bishops must look to the example of God’s “gracious humility and his bowing
down to help us”, culminated in the Incarnation. Francis emphasized this
concept, repeating the term the Greek Fathers used to define it: synkatàbasis .
For this reason, the Mexican episcopate, standing “on the shoulders of giants”
— namely, predecessors in the faith who allow us to see far into the distance —
must draw from the source of riches that
is their past. And do so with the certainty shown by the Pope, that in time
Mexico and its Church will arrive at its meeting with history and with God. The
same encouragement expressed to Mexican Catholics by Paul VI was quoted by his Successor, Francis, at the end of the Mass in
Ecatepec. Precisely out of love for Christ, the Virgin loved her neighbour,
“which must be the rule governing all human relations”, Pope Montini recalled.
He added that one must see “in every man a brother and, in every brother
Christ, in order that love for God and for mankind be joined as one living and
operative love, the only thing that can remedy the miseries of the world and
renew it at its deepest root: the heart of man”. g.m.v….
“Only a Church able to shelter the faces of
men and women who knock on her doors will be able to speak to them of God….
We do not need ‘princes’, but rather a community of the Lord’s witnesses.” Pope
Francis addressed a long and passionate speech to the bishops of Mexico on
Saturday morning, 13 February, in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Mexico
City. It was an address in which the Pontiff touched on the serious challenges
which the country is facing, including migration and crime. Expressing his
trust in the ability of the country and of the Church to walk on the path of
peace and justice, the Pope said that he “is sure that Mexico and its Church”,
he said, “will make it in time to that rendezvous with themselves, with history
and with God”. The Pope’s address to the bishops…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday made his way through one of Mexico City’s most lawless neighborhoods, Ecatepec, to celebrate Mass for a massive crowd of faithful. Fr. Federico Lombardi, Director of the Holy See Press Office, spoke to Veronica Scarisbrick about the exuberant welcome received by the Pope from the Mexican people. Listen to their full conversation:
Pope Francis, Fr. Lombardi said, has said his main sentiment regarding his welcome in Mexico is gratitude. “He feels that these people who come in the street to show him love, joy for his coming, desire of blessing is something that expresses a love that is without interest, without looking for something material. In this sense, his experience of meeting the people is meeting them in a spiritual way, a joyful way.” Messenger of mercy and peace He said the key to the Holy Father’s Apostolic Journey to Mexico is his coming as a messenger of mercy and peace . The people “understand the presence of someone that is giving to them mercy, love and hope to progress toward peace, if they have a Christian attitude, responsibility, and solidarity for others, as the Pope says the Gospel requires.” The Pope has drawn massive crowds to his events, and Fr. Lombardi said, “This movement of this many, many hundreds of thousands of people on the street … I think is giving off its fruits in the sense which the Pope hopes: a growth in hope, in mercy, and solidarity.” He said Pope Francis’ prayer before the Virgin of Guadalupe on Saturday is “always the atmosphere in which the Pope encounters the people of Mexico, and he asked the Mother of God to bless this people and to help this people to have hope [for] a better future. The problems are very hard, but the Pope encourages them not to be desperate, to try to build a world in which mutual understanding, solidarity, can really confront the situation.” Sunday Mass in Ecatepec Speaking about the Holy Father’s Mass in Ecatepec on Sunday, Fr. Lombardi said, “The people were listening to the Pope very willingly, they had waited for the Pope in a very cool night and morning, but they were very happy to meet the Pope. I think this Mass has been the most massive Mass that we have experienced. In this anonymous and terrific town, the message of love, of solidarity, of being together in love and hope is something very fundamental. We can see how the message of the gospel is needed to be human in this world.” Pope Francis at the end of the Mass told the people to not dialogue with the devil . Fr. Lombardi said his was a very traditional message, which “sometimes seems to be too simple, but in reality it [hits at] the profound roots of the problem. Without a conversion in the heart of everyone and also in society, we will not confront the problem of violence, the problem of disparity, and the unjust distribution of wealth. The origins of the problem are exactly in the temptations of Christ.” (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On Monday Pope Francis flies south west to Chiapas landing in this most southern Mexican state’s capital city, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, before making his way to San Cristóbal de las Casas. He’ll be returning there in the evening to meet with families before returning to Mexico City.
Listen to Veronica Scarisbrick’s report:
Cristobal de las Casas is a tourist haunt which lies along the border with Guatemala. A border traditionally poorly guarded and a place of entry into Mexico for migrants from Central America.
But the reason tourists come here is to visit some of the most striking archaeological sites in Mexico, ‘Mayan’ ruins in misty jungles.
And it’s that word ‘Mayan’ that brings the Pope here. Chiapas is home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the country with twelve federally recognized ethnicities. Among them ‘Chamulans’, a subset of the ‘Tzotzil Mayas’ who make up a third of Chiapa’s nearly one million indigenous people.
Much of the state’s history is centered on the subjugation of these peoples with occasional rebellions. The last of these rebellions was the 1994 Zapatista uprising, which succeeded in obtaining new rights for indigenous people.
And Pope Francis is coming to celebrate Holy Mass in a stadium at San Cristobal de las Casas. The celebration will include three indigenous languages, ‘tseltal’, ‘ch’ol’ and ‘tsotil’.
It’s here that from 1959 to 1999 Bishop Samuel Ruiz learnt these Mayan languages in an effort to communicate with the indigenous people and from here he rode his mule into the hills travelling to remote areas where they lived in dire poverty. It is here that he gave value to local traditions, education, social justice and care of ‘Mother Earth’.
It was also here that ‘the Bishop of the Poor’ or ‘Tata’, father as they called him in the Mayan languages is now buried at the heart of the Cathedral Pope Francis will visit after Holy Mass.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday visited the “Federico Gómez” Pediatric Hospital in Mexico City.
He told the children ” I ask God to bless you, and to accompany you and your families, and all those people who work in this home and try to ensure that your smiles grow day by day.”
The hospital was inaugurated in 1943 and it was visited by Pope St John Paul II on his journey to Mexico in 1979.
Below is an English translation of the Pope’s words:
Greeting of Pope Francis
Visit to the “Federico Gómez” Pediatric Hospital
Sunday 14 February 2016
Mr President,
Madam First Lady,
Madam Secretary for Health,
Director,
Members of the Board of Governors,
Families here present,
Dear Children,
Friends one and all,
Good afternoon. I thank God for granting me this opportunity to come and visit you, to join you and your families in this hospital. To share a little of your life and of those who work here: the doctors, nurses, personnel, and volunteers who help. Thank you.
There is a very brief passage in the Gospel which tells us something of Jesus’ childhood. He was very small, just like some of you. One day, his parents, Joseph and Mary, took him up to the Temple to present him to God. And while there they met an old man called Simeon who, upon seeing Jesus, was very moved and filled with joy and gratitude. He took Jesus in his arms and held him close, and began to bless the Lord. Looking at Jesus inspired him in two ways: the feeling of gratitude and the desire to bless.
Simeon is “the uncle” who teaches us these two attitudes: gratitude and then blessing.
For my part (and not only because of my age), I feel I can relate well with these two lessons of Simeon. On the one hand, entering here and seeing your eyes, your smiles, your faces, has filled me with a desire to give thanks. Thank you for the kind way that you welcomed me, thank you for recognizing the tenderness with which you are cared for and accompanied. Thank you for the efforts of many who are doing their best so that you can get better quickly.
It is very important that we feel cared for and accompanied, to feel loved and to know that all these workers here are looking for the best way to care for us. To each of these people, I say, “Thank you”.
And at the same time, I wish to bless you. I ask God to bless you, and to accompany you and your families, and all those people who work in this home and try to ensure that your smiles grow day by day. May God bless each person… not only doctors but also those who provide “kindness-therapy” thus making the time spent here more enjoyable.
Have you ever heard of the Indian Juan Diego? When his uncle was sick, he was quite worried and distressed. Then, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to him and said, “Let not your heart be disturbed or upset by anything. Am I not here with you, I who am your mother?”
We have Mary as our Mother, and so let us ask her to give us the gift of her son, Jesus. Let us close our eyes and ask her to give us what our hearts seek today, and then let us pray together,
Hail Mary…
May the Lord and the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe remain with you always. Thank you very much. And please, do not forget to pray for me.
(from Vatican Radio)…