Pope Francis urges Mexico to guard against the forces of 'kidnapping and death'

By Patrick J. McDonnell and Tracy Wilkinson
FEBRUARY 13, 2016, 9:41 AM

Pope Francis wasted no time on his first full day in Mexico on Saturday, signaling the grievous ills faced by the troubled country and the responsibility of the powerful for perpetuating them.

With President Enrique Peña Nieto, his Cabinet and an array of politicians as his audience inside the 17th century National Palace, the pope spoke of the need for “men and women who are upright, honest and capable of working for the common good” to build a future of hope in a land of despair.

“Each time we seek the path of privileges or benefits for a few, to the detriment of the good of all,” Francis said, “the life of society becomes a fertile soil for corruption, drug trade, exclusion of different cultures, violence and also human trafficking, kidnapping and death, bringing suffering and slowing down development.”

With that, the first pope from the Americas touched on the most intractable problems plaguing Mexicans. Many in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country have hoped their supreme spiritual leader would take to task a government they often see as impervious to demands and criticism.

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