From the war on drug cartels in Mexico to reviving faith in Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI is set to address a series of burning issues on his first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America beginning this week.
On his 23rd visit abroad, the pontiff will tackle the declining number of Catholics in the region, the rise of rival religious movements, such as Pentecostalists, and what the church sees as the threat to family values.
The six-day program, starting in Mexico on Friday, takes into account the frailty of the aged pope, who will conduct both political meetings and religious rites focusing on the marian figures of Mexico’s Our Lady of Guadalupe and Cuba’s Our Lady of Charity.
Pope Benedict, 84, is likely to face criticism over the clerical abuse scandal and the Vatican’s management of Mexico’s most famous offender, Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, who was accused of molesting eight minors.
The Vatican has already ruled out a meeting with victims of pedophilia.
One of the trip highlights will be a large mass on Sunday in front of hundreds of thousands of people in the Bicentennial Park in Leon, which sits at the foot of Cubilete Mountain, the site of the towering Christ the King statue.
A reproduction of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be presented to the crowds and Catholics from all 91 of Mexico’s dioceses are expected to attend.
The Vatican chose the site because it is central and 70 percent of the population can travel there in less than four hours.
The pope will meet children and faithful in Guanajuato before presiding over vespers in Leon Cathedral with bishops from South and North America.
In the overwhelmingly Catholic country — where 83 percent of the population has been baptized — the pope is expected to condemn the drug wars between cartels and security agents which have killed tens of thousands of people.
He is also likely to speak about the mass migration of Latin-Americans, particularly from Central America, to the US. Many fall victim to drug traffickers and there are widespread claims of abuse by border guards.
In Cuba, the pope hopes to encourage religious fervor in the secular state and a big turnout is expected from the Catholic community — which forms about 10 percent of the populace — at masses in Santiago de Cuba and Havana.
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