Pope Francis issued a tough-love message to Mexico's
political and church elites Saturday, telling them they have a duty to provide
their people with security, justice and courageous pastoral care to confront
the drug-inspired violence and corruption that are tormenting the country.
The raucous welcome Francis received from cheering
Mexicans who lined his motorcade route seven-deep contrasted sharply with his
pointed criticism of how church and state leaders here have often failed their
people, especially the poorest and most marginalized.
"Experience teaches us that each time we seek
the path of privileges or benefits for a few to the detriment of the good of
all, sooner or later the life of society becomes a fertile soil for corruption,
drug trade, exclusion of different cultures, violence and also human
trafficking, kidnapping and death, bringing suffering and slowing down
development," he told government authorities at the presidential palace.
In a subsequent hard-hitting speech to his own
bishops, Francis challenged church leaders known for their deference to
Mexico's wealthy and powerful to courageously denounce the "insidious
threat" posed by the drug trade and not hide behind their own privilege
and careers.
He told them to be true pastors, close to their
people, and to develop a coherent plan to help Mexicans "finally escape
the raging waters that drown so many, either victims of the drug trade or those
who stand before God with their hands drenched in blood, though with pockets
filled with sordid money and their consciences deadened."
The speech was met with tepid applause, with only a
handful of bishops standing in ovation.
Francis' entire five-day trip to Mexico is shining
an uncomfortable spotlight on the church's shortcomings and the government's
failure to solve entrenched social ills that plague many parts of the country —
poverty, rampant drug-inspired gangland killings, extortion, disappearances of
women, crooked cops and failed public services.
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