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[h=4]Pope at Juarez prison: Society 'has been abandoning its children'[/h]Francis was welcomed by chanting crowds and serenaded by a prison orchestra.
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Pope Francis visits the 'world's most dangerous city' of Juarez, Mexico where he will hold a mass for 200,000. The people of Juarez say the historic visit could be the start of recovery. VPC
Pope Francis waves to the faithful after arriving at Abraham Gonzalez Airport on Wednesday in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.(Photo: Victor Calzada / El Paso Times)
The first major stop on Pope Francis' visit to Juarez, Mexico, on Wednesday took him to a prison, where he was welcomed by chanting crowds and serenaded by a prison orchestra; he also shook hands with lines of weeping prisoners.
The pope spoke about prisons as a symptom of society.
He was greeted by a crowd chanting, “We love you, pope, we love you!” and “Francisco, friend, Chihuahua is with you,” before he spoke to about 800 prisoners and hundreds of their family members sitting in an outside yard. The pope shook hands with dozens of them individually, accepting a wooden pastoral staff from one man.
Evelia Quintana introduced him by saying that although she and fellow prisoners were led to the penitentiary by errors or bad decisions made in the past, it was only one stop in the journey to improve their lives.
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The pope said the problems found in prison start outside its walls. They reflect a society that "has been abandoning its children," he said.
"Divine mercy reminds us that prisons are a symptom of how we are as a society, they are a symptom in many cases of silence and neglect that have caused a throwaway culture," he said.
Society has forgotten to concentrate on what should be its true worry, which is the lives of people and families who have suffered due to a circle of violence, he said.
His words caused many of the prisoners to cry, before the pope left to spirited music led by the attendees.
Contributing: El Paso Times
Volunteer Olga Flores hands a meal to a man who was just deported from the United States back to Mexico, at the migrant shelter run by the Diocese of Juarez in Juarez, Mexico, on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. Pope Francis will visit Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas, in the United States on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2017.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> David Wallace/The Republic
Daniel Melgar, 24, of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, sits in the migrant shelter run by the Diocese of Juarez in Juarez, Mexico, on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. Melgar has a ticket to see Pope Francis' Mass in Juarez on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2017. He then plans to illegally cross into the United States. He left Honduras because of the gang violence.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> David Wallace/The Republic
Ulises Nunez Montero, 14, of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, sits in the courtyard of the migrant shelter run by the Diocese of Juarez in Juarez, Mexico, on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. Ulises, his mother, younger brother and two younger sisters, left Veracruz state in Mexico to head to the United States for economic reasons. Pope Francis will visit Juarez, that borders El Paso in the United States on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2017.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> David Wallace/The Republic
Selerina Guadalupe Villa, 85, talks with her neighbor, Felix Mendoza Valdez, 47, in their neighborhood of Ecatepec, Mexico, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Pope Francis visited the densely populated, impoverished and crime-ridden suburb of Mexico City on Sunday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> David Wallace/The Republic
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