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ThePope,theDonaldandtheMexicanborderCNN.com
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ThePope,theDonaldandtheMexicanborderCNN.com
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ThePope,theDonaldandtheMexicanborderCNN.com
A Mexican monopoly
Despite decades of Soviet-style repression during the 20th century, Catholicism survived and even thrived in
Mexico. It now boasts 122 million Catholics, second only to Brazil in size.
Paradoxically, though, as the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party lifted some restrictions on
Catholicism, the church lost some of its religious monopoly. While 90% of Mexicans were raised Catholic,
according to a 2014 Pew report, 81% currently identify as such, a small but significant drop.
Francis will take some steps to stanch the bleeding, visiting Chiapas, for instance, where Protestant
churches have flourished. There, on February 15, the Pope is expected to issue a decree allowing
indigenous people to celebrate Mass in their local languages. He may also apologize for historical wrongs
done in the name of the church, as he did during a trip to Bolivia last year.
Some Catholics say the Pope may also seek to atone for the sexual abuse perpetrated by Marcial Maciel
Degollado, the disgraced founder of the Legion of Christ who sexually abused seminarians and fathered
several children. Degollado, who died in 2008, was a powerful figure in the Mexican church for decades.
"It will be the first time a pope has been in Mexico since that blew up," said Kesicki. "That's another
flashpoint that I think he may have to address."
And while staying each night in Mexico City, the "Pope of the peripheries" will travel via helicopter to several
cities that have never seen a pontiff in person, even during Saint John Paul II's five trips to Mexico.
Tracing the path of many migrants, Francis will travel from Chiapas in the far south, where as many as
150,000 Central Americans enter Mexico each year, to Juarez in the north, where many hope to enter the
United States.
"Those are two very wounded spots," said Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who is one of two
U.S. bishops who will be part of the papal entourage in Mexico.
"He wants us to be aware that those are human wounds and we cannot be indifferent to them."
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Zika
While the World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a public health emergency, the Pope isn't
likely to address the dangerous virus in Mexico, though infected mosquitoes have been reported there.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/11/world/popemexicotrump/index.html
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But with several South American countries advising women to avoid getting pregnant in order to prevent
possible birth defects that can result from Zika, Catholics are in a tough theological spot.
The church counsels against most forms of birth
control, and even though surveys show many South
American Catholics ignore such teachings, the Pope
will likely be wary of weighing in before all the facts
about Zika are known.
If Francis does address the virus and the church's
position on birth control, it will likely be during the
post-trip press conference on the flight from Mexico
back to Rome. And, as reporters know, when this
Pope approaches a microphone, he often makes
news.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/11/world/popemexicotrump/index.html
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http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/11/world/popemexicotrump/index.html
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