Today, Pope Francis prepares to speak in front of hundreds of followers at the Rio Grande. This will be the finale of a six day trip to Mexico in which he touched upon one of the most important topics of this year’s Presidential election, immigration.
“The pope wanted to come to Juarez to make public the suffering of the migrants,” the Rev. Roberto Luna, a priest in Ciudad Juarez, said. “The pope says that this world is a house for everyone. He’s convinced that we should treat migrants as brothers.”
Along with the issue of immigration, Pope Francis has offered pointed critiques of the failings in Mexico’s government and society, pressing his papal finger on the country’s most sensitive wounds. In front of President Enrique Peña Nieto, whose popularity has plummeted amid conflict-of-interest scandals and atrocities linked to security forces, the pope chastised the country’s leaders for a culture of corruption.
“He emphasizes the theme of the marginalized, of the excluded, of those who feel isolated, who feel they’re not part of society,” said Maria Soledad Loaeza Tovar, a professor at the College of Mexico and an expert in foreign relations.
Pope Francis hopes by giving his speech on the border that divides Mexico and the U.S. that those on our side of the border might hear his message of hope and empathy.
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