Pope delivers message of hope to Mexicans ahead of visit

With final preparations underway in Mexico for Pope Francis’s visit to the country and many hoping the pontiff’s words of hope will spur change in the drug-ravaged country, Francis himself released a message from the Vatican saying he wants to be “close” to those who are “suffering.”

During his five-day visit starting on February 12, the Pope will walk through the holy door of Mexico City’s Cathedral, built upon the ruins of the former Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.

The Pope will walk through the Cathedral’s holy door where he will give a special message to Mexican bishops after greeting thousands of faithful in Zocalo square.

Pope Francis has chosen an unlikely itinerary for his Mexico visit. He will lead mass with the indigenous community in Mexico’s poorest state Chiapas, speak with young people in Morelia, capital of violence-wracked Michoacan state, and end with a large Mass in border town Ciudad Juarez, which once had one of the world’s highest murder rates.

Ahead of his trip, Francis delivered a message from the Vatican and reached out to those “suffering.”

“It is possible you’re all asking, what is the aim of the Pope with this visit. The answer is immediate and simple. I want to go as a missionary of mercy and peace, meet with you all to make confession together of our faith in God, and share a fundamental truth in our lives that God loves us very much, that he loves us with an infinite love beyond what we can comprehend. I want to be as close to you all as possible, but in a special way for those who are suffering, to hug them, and tell them Jesus loves them very much, and he will always be at your side,” he said.

The Pope is scheduled to give mass at Mexico City’s Guadalupe Basilica, the country’s holiest site, where he is expected to call for peace and an end to violence in Mexico.

And according to the church coordinator for the papal visit, Francis draws on a tradition among recent pontiffs reaching out to indigenous Mexicans.

“I think the message of the Holy Father will be very good for the indigenous and to raise awareness regarding the rights of indigenous for everyone else, as Pope John Paul II did in Oaxaca in 1979,” said Bishop Lira Rugarcia, from Mexico City.

Mexico’s population is roughly 120 million people.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics also plans to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and other officials to discuss issues including the environment, security, protection for migrants, human rights and the fight against poverty, according to Mexico’s foreign ministry.

The trip will be Pope Francis’s fourth visit to Latin America, including his stop in Cuba this past September.