On his last day in Mexico, the pope said Mass for a vibrant crowd that organizers estimated at more than 600,000 people in a sprawling park on the edge of Leon, a central city which has escaped the worst of the criminal violence plaguing the country.
Wearing purple and white vestments, the 84-year-old pope addressed the biggest crowd of his Latin American trip from a massive white altar platform on a hillside, sprinkling his sermon with words such as conversion and reconciliation.
Many in the crowd covered their heads with hats, sheets and umbrellas against the blazing sunshine as Benedict prayed that Mexicans would be given the strength "to boldly promote peace, harmony, justice and solidarity."
But The Economist reports that while the three days were preaching mainly to the converted (Mexico is one of the world’s great Catholic bastions: 83% of its 112m people are loyal to the Vatican, and Mexico City’s Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe vies with St Peter’s in Rome as the world’s most-visited Catholic church). The Pope stayed in Guanajuato, Mexico’s most devout state, where 94% of the population is Catholic. Well before his visit, posters went up to welcome the pontiff (though many depicted his predecessor).
This emerging cleavage has various sorces, including competition from other religions -- Evangelicals, Jehovah’s Witnesses or Baptists, as well as the "secular" state:
" as the state gets better at bringing basic services to distant places, the outsiders’ modest offerings are being superseded. In the past few years the Chiapas government has built a basketball court, library and market area in Bejucal. Locals say that public spending has become a bit less corrupt. And the authorities are shameless self-promoters, littering the region with billboards celebrating every ounce of investment. Whoever prevails in the battle for rural Mexico’s soul, competition may at last be starting to drive up the standard of living high in the sierra."
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While many like to believe that the Pope is the driving force in bringing peace and prosperity to the Catholic world, this article just goes to show that his role is only a symbolic one. His trip to Mexico was supposed to calm tensions in a region torn apart by drug cartels and corruption. Yet, he did very little to improve the conditions there. By staying within the majority Catholic areas, made no difference whatsoever in the war-torn sections scattered through the country. However, in doing so, he was able to protect his image. In our Government class, we talk a lot about the motives behind politicians' actions. The Pope, as a politican, is often driven by a desire to protect his image. Is this powerful religious figure really looking out for our best interests?
To Ryan's comment that the Pope is a politician, there is some truth to the religious leader traveling to Mexican states where Pro-Life/Pro-Choice debates have become part of the political culture south of the boarder, as well as north.
This from the BBC in Sept, 2011:
Mexico's Supreme Court has upheld an amendment to Baja California's state constitution that stipulates life begins at conception, in a move hailed by anti-abortion campaigners.
Although seven of the 11 justices deemed the measure unconstitutional, eight votes were needed to overturn it.
More than half Mexico's 31 states have enacted right-to-life amendments that severely restrict abortions.
However, Mexico City allows abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Anti-abortion campaigners cheered after hearing the Supreme Court ruling.
"We have to continue working so that life may triumph," Jorge Serrano, leader of an anti-abortion organisation Pro-Life, told Reuters.
The Supreme Court is due to consider a similar amendment in the state of San Luis Potosi, where the law also says that life begins at conception.
Justice Fernando Franco proposed the motion to declare Baja California's law unconstitutional but the opposition of four judges sank the measure.
Giving their ruling, the justices said they based their analysis "strictly on constitutional issues. That is, the issue under debate was the power of states to legislate on topics that are not expressly determined by the federal constitution".
However, some women's rights activists fear that allowing individual states to decide their own rules may create a divide between those able to go to Mexico City for a legal abortion and those living in states where it is largely restricted.
Mexico City government's Human Rights Commission said the court's stance would worsen the serious public health problem of clandestine abortions.
The ruling highlights the difference between policies pursued by Mexico City's authorities and more conservative administrations in other states, correspondents say.
All Mexican states allow abortion when pregnancy results from rape and most permit it when the woman's life is in danger.
But pro-choice campaigners say that in practice this does not always happen.
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