Pope Francis in Juarez: 'No more exploitation!'

Luke Skywalker · Feb 17, 2016

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[h=4]Pope Francis in Juarez: 'No more exploitation!'[/h]Pope appeals for governments to open their hearts, if not their borders.

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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)

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico —*Pope Francis decried the injustices faced by*migrants during a cross-border Mass*here Wednesday, the last stop of*his five-day*visit to Mexico.
Thousands of people gathered in and around the city's fairgrounds*and at a stadium in El Paso across the U.S.-Mexico border to hear the pope's message that change is possible with divine mercy. Before the Mass, the pope laid flowers and prayed at a cross alongside the border.
The Mass marked the final day of the first Latin American pope's trip to Mexico, the world's second-largest*Catholic country.*He left for Rome later in the evening.
USA TODAY
Prayers, police protect Pope Francis in Mexico

The pope recognized the concentration of immigrants in Juárez and other border cities*but said*forced migration is a "human tragedy" with global reach.*Migrants face a range of dangers in their journeys, he said, in a system "that ensnares and always destroys the poorest."
He spoke particularly forcefully about the flood of migrants from Central America into Mexico and the United States over the past few years.
"Here in as in other border areas, there are thousands of immigrants from Central*America and other countries, not forgetting the many Mexicans who also seek to pass over 'to the other*side.'*Each step, a journey laden with grave injustices: the enslaved, the imprisoned and extorted; so*many of these brothers and sisters of ours are the consequence of a trade in human beings," he said.
USA TODAY
Laser beams, falls: It's not all kissing babies for the pope in Mexico

The pope credited groups already working with migrants and called on others to see the suffering.*He referenced the Biblical story of Nineveh, a city that was being ruined by*violence and oppression until*people of the city repented, and wept tears of transformation,*he said.
Immigration is a crisis that should be measured by the individuals it impacts rather than statistics, he said. He spoke of young people threatened when they have tried to leave violence, and women "unjustly robbed of their lives."

Pope Francis says Mass at the fairgrounds in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Feb. 17, 2016.*(Photo: David Wallace, The Arizona Republic)

"No more death! No more exploitation!" he said. "There is still time to change, there is still a way out and a chance, time to implore the mercy of God."
The pope ended by acknowledging those watching the Mass in El Paso, brothers and sisters that are "one family in the same Christian community," he said.
"With help of technology, we can pray, sing and celebrate together," he noted "... and no border can prevent us from sharing [God's love]."
Despite being guarded by dozens of police officers, metal barriers and large trucks, the U.S. crowd was*jubilant. There was chanting*and people asking for the police to move.

Pope Francis walks on stage at the U.S. border, before celebrating Mass at the Ciudad Juarez fairgrounds Feb. 17, 2016.*(Photo: Gabriel Bouys, AFP/Getty Images)

"Se ve, se siente, el Papa esta presente!"*—*"He is seen, he is felt, the pope is present!" —*people chanted as Pope Francis turned his face toward*the*border and gave his blessing.
Though the pope was barely visible in his white garments, the sentiment of his blessing was felt throughout the crowd. Some made the sign of the cross, while others held up crucifixes.
Everyone cheered.
The pope began his final day in Mexico at Prison No. 3,*where he was welcomed by chanting crowds and serenaded by a prison orchestra; he also shook hands with lines of weeping prisoners.

Pope Francis stands on a platform along the banks of the Rio Grande in Juarez, Mexico, as he places flowers in memory of those who have died crossing the border as a group of migrants watches from along the border fence in El Paso on Feb. 17, 2016.*(Photo: Eric Gay, AP)

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.
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.
USA TODAY
Laser beams, falls: It's not all kissing babies for the pope in Mexico

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.
At a midday gathering, Pope Francis told business leaders and factory workers that the path to prosperity comes through unity, negotiation and personal sacrifice for the benefit of everyone during a speech to business groups.
The pope spoke to*more than 4,000 business officials and workers,*many from the maquiladora industry, who*packed*into*the Colegio de Bachilleres de Estado de Chihuahua gymnasium in south central Juárez.

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Pope Francis gets visibly upset at individuals in Mexico who grabbed his clothes and nearly made him fall. Wochit

“At first glance, the groups can seem like antagonists, but the same responsibility unites you: to look to create spaces for dignified and truly useful work, for society and especially for young people,” Pope Francis aIS.
Many young people in Juárez haven’t had opportunities to study and make a decent living, he said.
“This poverty and marginalization are the best recipe for them to fall into the cycle of drug trafficking and violence,” he added.
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.* 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.* 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.* 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.* David Wallace/The Republic

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Pope Francis in Juarez: 'No more exploitation!'

Luke Skywalker

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