The last time a pope visited Mexico was almost 10 years ago. During his stay, Pope Francis visited the border city of Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua), which was once the most violent border city in the world. On that day in February 2016, there was not a single homicide in this city. Real or symbolic, this is the power of the Pope in Mexico, a country where 78% of the population adheres to Catholicism. The government of President Claudia Sheinbaum wants Leo Sheinbaum’s movement, in addition to satisfying the faith of believers, to have a deep political background. Much of the president’s peace plan is based on the values of community, solidarity and family found in Catholicism. According to the credo of Morena, the ruling party, these values are like antidotes to soften a broken social fabric, which intensifies violence and extends the domination of organized crime.
It is also a fact that the Church and its representatives arrive where the government has no reach. In Mexico, despite official denial, entire regions are controlled by cartels. There, from north to south, from Chihuahua to Chiapas, via Guerrero, Michoacán and Tamaulipas, religious leaders serve as mediators between crime and powerless communities. These are precarious peace agreements in the midst of a wave of violence which is claiming more and more victims among the population. Church representatives, however, are not immune to the scourge of drug trafficking, which has already murdered several local priests. The clergy raised their voices to demand action from the State and, despite the risks, they remained on the front lines of the fight, preaching forgiveness, love of neighbor and hope.
Morena’s founder and Sheinbaum’s predecessor as president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, incorporated into his political program a vision of public morality closely linked to the Catholic perspective. Whether or not he professed this religion – he defined himself as a “disciple of Jesus Christ” – he was very aware of the deep roots of Catholicism among Mexicans. The former president said attention to the crisis of violence entailed paying close attention to the causes that generate it. It has strengthened the coverage of aid programs for vulnerable sectors, mainly young people, while disseminating in schools a Introduction to moralityan allegation against individual corruption and “anti-social behavior”.
Sheinbaum continued on this path, with a significant change in the approach to the use of state force. While López Obrador declined to directly attack the cartels, a paradigm he called “hugs, not bullets,” Sheinbaum relied on investigations and intelligence to deliver specific blows to organized crime. The president is banking on a balance between the strength of the state and cultural resources. Over the past half year, Interior Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez has held meetings with representatives of various religious groups, primarily Catholic, to support the government’s strategy to address the causes of violence.
Federal government sources confirmed to EL PAÍS that Rodríguez has intensified negotiations at the Vatican for the visit of Pope Leo XIV to take place next year, at the request of President Sheinbaum. If this project comes to fruition, Mexico will host two major international events in 2026: the FIFA World Cup and the Pope’s visit to America. “A pope cannot ignore Mexico,” the sources comment. In raw terms, this Latin American country has the largest Spanish-speaking Catholic population, with almost 98 million inhabitants, according to official figures. To this must be added the thousands of immigrants who cross Mexico to the United States and who also profess the Catholic faith.
Undefined papal agenda
Even though the importance of Mexico in the constellation of Catholicism is indisputable, the Pope’s travel schedule for next year still remains very uncertain. Robert Prevost, born in the United States but who spent four decades in the diocese of Peru, made the first trip of his pontificate two weeks ago, to Turkey and Lebanon. Lion
On November 27, on the flight to Ankara, he told Spanish envoys that they could “more than hope” that he would visit Spain soon. And on December 2, on the flight back from Beirut to Rome, he said he was studying a trip to America, a possibility that was being talked about with insistence, but he clarified that “the project is not yet decided.” He clarified that it would be in 2026 or 2027 anyway: “We are looking. » “Obviously, I would very much like to visit Latin America. Argentina and Uruguay, which were awaiting the Pope’s visit. Peru, where I think they will also receive me, and if I go to Peru, also to other neighboring countries,” he said. He did not mention Mexico, but it is not excluded that a trip to Latin America could include this country. This is a project that we are still working on.
The only thing that was clear was that Leo XIV’s next international trip would take place in Algeria, although he did not specify the date. “Personally, I hope to go to Algeria to visit the places of the life of Saint Augustine. Also to continue the dialogue, the building of bridges between the Christian and Muslim worlds,” explained the Pontiff, who belongs to the Augustinian order. He added that he will also take the opportunity to make stops in other African countries, which he did not detail either, although we are talking about Cameroon.
Robert Prévost’s trip to Latin America has been a given since his election, since in addition to being American, he has Peruvian nationality and exercised his ministry in Peru for a good part of his ecclesiastical career. First in the 1980s until 1999, and secondly as bishop of the Peruvian city of Chiclayo, since 2014. On Peruvian lands, he learned first-hand about the problems of the region, from poverty and violence to natural disasters, and he was close to the people most in need, including immigrants.
He remained in Peru until he was sent to the Vatican in 2023 as prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, until he was elected Francis’ successor last May. On the flight back to Rome, he spoke with journalists about the impact he felt on the day of his election, but he rightly spoke about how the years he lived in Latin America helped him trust in God: “It was my spirituality for many years, in the midst of great challenges, living in Peru during the years of terrorism, being called to serve places where I never thought I would go. It is for this reason that he understands the problems of Latin America very well and that he feels great empathy with the continent.
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