<<Print>>

Celebrating Mass in the Catholic heartland of Mexico, Pope Benedict XVI told a nation and a continent suffering from poverty, corruption and violence, to trust in God and the intercession of Mary to help them bring about a "more just and fraternal society." "When addressing the deeper dimension of personal and community life, human strategies will not suffice to save us," the pope said in his homily during the outdoor Mass at Guanajuato Bicentennial Park March 25, the second full day of his second papal visit to Latin America. "We must have recourse to the one who alone can give life in its fullness, because he is the essence of life and its author." Citing the responsorial psalm for the day's Mass -- "Create a clean heart in me, O God" -- the pope said that evil can be overcome only through a divinely inspired change of the human heart. The pope made note of the monument to Christ the King visible atop a nearby hill and observed that Christ's "kingdom does not stand on the power of his armies subduing others through force or violence. It rests on a higher power that wins over hearts: the love of God that he brought into the world with his sacrifice and the truth to which he bore witness." That message was consistent with Pope Benedict's frequently stated objections to strategies for social progress that blend Christian social doctrine with Marxism or other secular ideologies. "The church is not a political power, it is not a party," the pope told reporters on his flight to Mexico March 23. "It is a moral reality, a moral power." In his Silao homily, the pope did not specifically address any of Latin America's current social problems, but after praying the Angelus following the Mass, he recited a litany of ills plaguing Mexico and other countries in the region: "so many families are separated or forced to emigrate ... so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime." Speaking in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, which was a stronghold of the 1920s Cristero Rebellion against an anti-clerical national regime, Pope Benedict recited the invocation that served as the Cristeros' rallying cry: "Long live Christ the King and Mary of Guadalupe." But reaffirming his message of nonviolence, the pope prayed that Mary's influence would "promote fraternity, setting aside futile acts of revenge and banishing all divisive hatred." The presidential candidates from Mexico's three main political parties attended the Mass, along with President Felipe Calderon and his family. The Vatican said 640,000 people attended the Mass. Some Mexicans took long trips just to see Pope Benedict on his first trip to the country since being elected in 2005.