Prayers, police protect Pope Francis in Mexico
The pope doesn't hesitate to speak out against cartels, which makes some fear for his safety during his trip to Mexico
- Mexican government has deployed 10,000 police officers, military troops to protect the pope
- Pope Francis refused to ride in a bullet-proof popemobile and likes to walk among the crowds
- Experts say pope won't hesitate to speak out against violence despite concerns for safety
MEXICO CITY — When Pope Francis travels this week to Morelia and Juarez, two Mexican cities that have been gripped by drug cartel violence, Josefina Trejo Pineda will be praying for his safety.
“I am extremely worried,” Trejo Pineda, 64, said on Monday, moments after visiting Mexico City's cathedral. “I have been praying that God protects him with his cloak and nothing happens to him. It would be a huge disgrace if in Mexico something happened to a visitor of Jesus Christ.”
Her friend, Rosalina Avendano Araya, 62, was equally worried after witnessing Pope Francis drive past in his popemobile on Saturday in front of hundreds of thousands of people in the Zocolo, Mexico City’s massive main square, on his way to the cathedral.
“He went by in his popemobile completely exposed, without protection, without anything,” said Avendano Araya, who traveled here from Costa Rica.
The Mexican government is trying to allay such fears.
It has deployed 10,000 police officers to protect the pope during his 5-day visit, according to reports. He arrived Friday and will conclude the trip on Wednesday.
In Mexico City, the police officers have been everywhere, lining streets, patrolling sidewalks on foot, and riding on motorcycles and in the backs of pickup trucks whenever the pope travels. Military soldiers in green uniforms and carrying automatic weapons also stand guard in areas where Pope Francis is visiting.
But protecting the pope has not been simple. He has been on the move constantly.
On Monday, he traveled from Mexico City to Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state on the border with Guatemala.
Thousands of people, including representatives of the indigenous communities of the state, gathered to celebrate a Mass at the municipal sports center in San Cristobal de las Casas. Throughout the crowd, many were openly crying while the pope spoke of how some of their groups had been marginalized by society and of the importance of living harmoniously with nature.
"Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior," the pope said. "Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them. How sad this is!"
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Later Monday afternoon, the pope also visited with families in Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital. Chiapas has been the main entry point for tens of thousands of families and unaccompanied minors fleeing violence and poverty in the Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala in an attempt to reach the United States.
Pope Francis prefers a Jeep Wrangler
After the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, popes have traveled in bullet-proof armored vehicles.
But Pope Francis prefers a Jeep Wrangler that is open on the sides, reflecting his humble style. He also likes to get out and walk into adoring crowds to shake hands and kiss children.
What’s more, he is expected to step up his denunciation of the drug lords after alluding to them on Sunday as “merchants of death” during a Mass he celebrated in the crime-ridden suburb of Ecatepec.
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“I would be very, very surprised if he doesn’t. That is the primary reason he is going there,” said Andrew Chesnut, a religious studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, who is in Mexico City for the pope’s visit.
Morelia is the capital of Michoacan, which along with the neighboring state of Guerrero, in recent years has become the epicenter of the nation’s drug wars, supplanting Juarez, once considered the murder capital of the world.
Murders in Juarez are only one-tenth what they were five years ago, down from more than 3,000 in 2010 to just more than 300 last year, according to the El Paso Times.
Pope Francis has spoken out frequently against organized crime and about how being Catholic is not compatible with criminal activity.
A year ago last February, he promoted Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia to cardinal, the first time an archbishop from the state of Michoacan had ever been promoted to such a high position, Chesnut said.
The promotion was seen as a reward for Suarez Inda’s outspoken criticism of the cartels, Chesnut said.
'Narcos are Catholics, too'
In Mexico, several priests have been kidnapped and killed in recent years for speaking out against drug lords or refusing to pay extortion demands.
Still, Chesnut does not believe the pope is at risk of being targeted by drug lords.
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“It’s minimal to none,” he said. “Most of them consider themselves Catholic. They are also businessmen. It’s against their interests to take out the world’s most popular leader.”
Ignacio Cuevas, a religious studies professor at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City, agreed.
He expects the pope to talk about the social and economic conditions that give rise to drug trafficking but not to denounce drugs lords directly.
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“He talks more in general terms,” Cuevas said. “He never mentions specific groups directly.”
Priests are at greater risk because they have closer contact with the people in their communities, he said.
Cuevas also noted that violence related to drug cartels in those regions has diminished somewhat.
Outside the city’s cathedral, David Donado, 51, and Carlos Diaz, 53, said they are not worried about the pope’s safety. They traveled from Venezuela to see the pope in Mexico City.
“The pope is a very humane person, an exceptional man … even bad people understand what he represents,” Diaz said.
“No, they don’t have any intentions, because the narcos are Catholic too,” Donado added.
“Yes,” Diaz said. “They are Catholics, they follow the Virgin of Guadalupe. They know what they are doing, but they aren’t going to do anything to harm the pope.”
Republic reporters Amy B Wang and Brenna Goth contributed to this story from Phoenix.