(ANS - Guadalajara) - After 11 hours of travel, Pope Francis arrived in Mexico. Wherever he went in the country, a multitude of faithful sang: "Francisco, hermano, ya eres mexicano" (Francis, brother, you are a Mexican). And why shouldn’t they?  After all, his heart is "Guadalupan".

By Marco Antonio Becerra

"This blessed Mexican land, a land of opportunity ... This land has the flavour of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the one who always preceded us in love," said the Pope. His first action was a visit to the President of Mexico. He was the first Pope to enter the National Palace and to be received by the President of the nation in a diplomatic meeting. The Hon. Enrique Peña Nieto, for his part, emphasized his closeness and cooperation with the Holy Father and said "the causes of the Pope, are the causes of Mexico."

The Pontiff also had a very cordial meeting with the Bishops of Mexico. He asked them to have a paternal attitude towards priests and entrusted to them the task of caring for the priests encouraging them to be faithful to the priestly vocation and dedicated to their ministry.

An important moment and one strongly desired by Pope Francis was the Eucharistic celebration in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, when the Pope honoured the Mother of God. After the liturgical celebration the Pope went as a pilgrim to the foot of the Virgin where he contemplated the face of Mary and fixed his gaze on the Queen of America.

On Sunday 14 February, the Holy Father celebrated his second Mass in Mexico in front of about 300 thousand people. In his homily he said that Lent is a time to "adjust the senses", "open your eyes in the face of so much injustice," and change the course of their lives, to move away from the three main temptations of Christianity: "wealth, vanity and pride."

At 1.00 p.m., the Pope was driven to the Diocesan Seminary and then to the "Federico Gómez" Children's Hospital in Mexico City. According to the Aciprensa agency. "One of the most exciting moments was the Pope’s visit to the Children's Hospital with the singing of the Ave Maria by a girl in the presence of an emotional Pontiff. Alexia Garduño is the name of this 15 year-old girl who is suffering from bone cancer".

Published 15/02/2016