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Pope turns eye to Mexico’s drug heartland in Michoacan stop Francis to Mexico priests: Don’t be resigned to status quo
(about 13 hours later)
MEXICO CITY — Pope Francis heads into the heart of Mexico’s drug-trafficking country Tuesday for meetings with young people, whom he is holding up as the hope for a better future for a country wracked by the violence and gang warfare of the drug trade. MORELIA, Mexico — Pope Francis urged Mexican priests Tuesday not to resign themselves to a society dominated by drug-fueled violence and corruption, but to get out of their comfortable lives and fight the injustices tormenting their flock.
Francis’ visit to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state, a hotbed of narcotics production and smuggling, will also give him a chance to send a message about his vision for the future of the Mexican church. Francis issued the appeal during a Mass for Mexico’s clergy in the capital of the state of Michoacan, a hotbed of the country’s drug trade. It was the first event of a daylong visit to Morelia that includes a meeting with young people, a fixture of papal trips that often produces some of the most memorable and spontaneous moments.
Last year, Francis made a cardinal out of Morelia Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda, one of several “peripheral” bishops elevated to the highest ranks of the church’s governance. Francis’ visit to Morelia, though, is also a symbolic vote of confidence for the city’s archbishop, Alberto Suarez Inda. Like Francis, Suarez Inda has called for Mexican bishops to be closer to their people and not act like bureaucrats or princes. Last year Francis made him a cardinal an unambiguous sign that Francis wants “peripheral” pastors like him at the helm of the church hierarchy.
Like the pope, Suarez Inda has called for Mexico’s church leaders to put aside their comfortable lives and become pastors with the “smell of their sheep.” It’s a famous phrase of the pope’s about the need for bishops to accompany their flock closely through life’s ups and downs. In his homily, Francis told the priests and nuns to not become resigned to the problems around them or give in to paralysis, which he called the devil’s “favorite weapon.”
Since beginning his Mexico trip Friday night, Francis has repeatedly taken to task the Mexican church leadership, many of whom have been reluctant to criticize the wealthy and powerful elite to whom they have close ties. “What temptation can come to us from places often dominated by violence, corruption, drug trafficking, disregard for human dignity and indifference in the face of suffering and vulnerability? What temptation might we suffer over and over again when faced with this reality which seems to have become a permanent system?” Francis asked.
On Saturday in Mexico City, he scolded what he called gossiping, career-minded and aloof clerics, and admonished them to stand by their flock and offer “prophetic courage” in facing down the drug trade. In an inscription in a seminary guestbook, he urged future priests to be pastors of God instead of “clerics of the state.” “I think we can sum it up on one word: resignation.”
The pope’s stop in Morelia signals that he fully backs Suarez Inda’s pastoral program and holds him up as a model for other clerics to emulate. Rather than give up, Francis urged the clerics to look to the model of Vasco de Quiroga, a 16th-century Spanish bishop who came to New Spain and founded utopian-style indigenous communities where agriculture and handicrafts were taught.
A Franciscan, he was affectionately known by many indigenous as “Tata Vasco,” or “Father Vasco” in the Purepecha language.
Francis said that when Vasco de Quiroga saw Indians being “sold, humiliated and homeless in marketplaces” due to colonial exploitation, he did not resign himself to inaction but rather was inspired to fight injustice.
Since beginning his Mexico trip Friday night, Francis has repeatedly taken to task the Mexican church leadership, many of whom have cozy ties with Mexico’s political and financial elite and are loath to speak out on behalf of the poor and victims of today’s social injustices.
On Saturday in Mexico City, he scolded what he called gossiping, career-minded and aloof clerics, and admonished them to stand by their flock and offer “prophetic courage” in facing down the drug trade. In an inscription in a seminary guestbook, he urged future priests to be pastors of God and not “clerics of the state.”
Suarez Inda clearly backs Francis’ program, echoing the pope’s admonition that “pastors should not be bureaucrats and we bishops should not have the mentality or attitude of princes.”
In 2013, at what was perhaps the height of the violence in Michoacan, Suarez Inda led eight other bishops in signing an unusually outspoken letter accusing government authorities of “complicity, forced or willing,” with criminal gangs. It urged priests to “do whatever is in your power” to help people in an atmosphere of kidnappings, killings and extortion and to “carry out concrete actions in favor of peace and reconciliation.”In 2013, at what was perhaps the height of the violence in Michoacan, Suarez Inda led eight other bishops in signing an unusually outspoken letter accusing government authorities of “complicity, forced or willing,” with criminal gangs. It urged priests to “do whatever is in your power” to help people in an atmosphere of kidnappings, killings and extortion and to “carry out concrete actions in favor of peace and reconciliation.”
Suarez Inda clearly backs Francis’ ideas about the role of clerics in contemporary Mexico, echoing the pope’s admonition that “pastors should not be bureaucrats and we bishops should not have the mentality or attitude of princes.” He has called for Mexico’s church leaders to put aside their comfortable lives and become pastors with the “smell of their sheep.” It’s a famous phrase of the pope’s about the need for bishops to accompany their flock closely through life’s ups and downs.
The pope “shakes up the conscience of priests in order that we not be mediocre, installed priests who simply seek social promotion, but rather that we truly live our calling to serve the people with great generosity,” Suarez Inda told the Mexican newspaper El Universal last month.The pope “shakes up the conscience of priests in order that we not be mediocre, installed priests who simply seek social promotion, but rather that we truly live our calling to serve the people with great generosity,” Suarez Inda told the Mexican newspaper El Universal last month.
Suarez Inda was also part of a group of clergy from Michoacan and neighboring Guerrero state who prepared a report on Mexico’s drug violence last year that he said left Francis “very shocked and impressed.”Suarez Inda was also part of a group of clergy from Michoacan and neighboring Guerrero state who prepared a report on Mexico’s drug violence last year that he said left Francis “very shocked and impressed.”
Francis may outline more of his vision for the church during a Mass celebrated with clerics, seminarians and nuns at a stadium.
But the day’s highlight could come in his final event, a gathering of Mexican youth. Francis often speaks off the cuff when meeting with young people, and he will almost certainly touch on the drug problem.
Much of Michoacan is part of a region called Tierra Caliente, or the Hot Lands, known for both its blistering temperatures and brutal tactics by gangsters eager to control lucrative drug-production territory and smuggling routes.Much of Michoacan is part of a region called Tierra Caliente, or the Hot Lands, known for both its blistering temperatures and brutal tactics by gangsters eager to control lucrative drug-production territory and smuggling routes.
By 2013, the pseudo-religious, evangelical-inspired Knights Templar cartel was widely kidnapping and extorting money and dominating the state’s economic and political scene so much that local farmers took up arms against them. But the uprising by the vigilante-style “self-defense” forces brought little peace to the state, with the groups fighting among themselves even as new criminal gangs sprang up or tried to muscle their way into Michoacan, a big source of methamphetamine production.By 2013, the pseudo-religious, evangelical-inspired Knights Templar cartel was widely kidnapping and extorting money and dominating the state’s economic and political scene so much that local farmers took up arms against them. But the uprising by the vigilante-style “self-defense” forces brought little peace to the state, with the groups fighting among themselves even as new criminal gangs sprang up or tried to muscle their way into Michoacan, a big source of methamphetamine production.
“I’m excited about the pope’s visit, but the reality is that people are afraid. Right now there is a festive atmosphere and a lot of police, but in the day-to-day it’s not that calm. Crime has risen,” said Yulisa Duran, an 18-year-old nursing student sitting with her boyfriend in Morelia’s main square.“I’m excited about the pope’s visit, but the reality is that people are afraid. Right now there is a festive atmosphere and a lot of police, but in the day-to-day it’s not that calm. Crime has risen,” said Yulisa Duran, an 18-year-old nursing student sitting with her boyfriend in Morelia’s main square.
“I lived in a tiny town that was very gentle, and then the (cartel) came in,” Duran added.“I lived in a tiny town that was very gentle, and then the (cartel) came in,” Duran added.
On Monday, Francis denounced centuries-old exploitation and exclusion of Mexico’s indigenous people in the southern state of Chiapas and said the world can learn from their traditions.On Monday, Francis denounced centuries-old exploitation and exclusion of Mexico’s indigenous people in the southern state of Chiapas and said the world can learn from their traditions.
“Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior,” he said. “Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them.” Francis wraps up his five-day visit on Wednesday by travelling to Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, for a cross-border Mass expected to focus heavily on the plight of migrants.
He called for a collective “Forgive me.”
In San Cristobal de las Casas, Francis celebrated a Mass that featured readings in native Mayan languages. He also made a point of praying before the tomb of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who ministered to Mexico’s poorest and supported the controversial practice of blending their indigenous culture into Catholic rituals.
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Associated Press writers Jacobo Garcia in Morelia and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report. Associated press writers Winfield and Orsi reported from Mexico City, and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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Nicole Winfield on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nwinfieldNicole Winfield on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_OrsiPeter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.