Pope Francis told
Mexican State news agency Notimex he wants to be instrumental to
peace in Mexico in an interview on his upcoming visit to the
country, scheduled on February 18-22.
The pontiff said he wanted to be an "instrument of peace"
together with all the Mexican people.
"The Mexico of violence, of corruption, of drug trafficking
is not the Mexico our Mother" of Guadelupe wants, said Francis,
adding he was going to Mexico "to pray with you so that the
problems of violence and corruption are solved".
The Virgin of Guadelupe is Mexico's patron saint.
He went on to say that he was travelling to the Central
American country "to call on you to fight each day against
corruption, against war, against division, against organized
crime, against human trafficking", stressing that "each day we
must fight for peace, not war".
Peace is a "handicraft, an everyday job" that can be seen
"in the way in which I educate a child or the way I caress a
child", continued the pontiff, noting these were "all seeds of
peace".
Also, peace "is born from tenderness, from comprehension",
he noted, stressing that dialogue is "the key word for peace" -
"dialogue between leaders, with the people and within the
people".
The pontiff also stressed the importance of dialogue within
families and across city districts, and urged "to be open to
talk to others, to listen to the reasons of others and let
ourselves be corrected".
Asked whether dialogue with a criminal was possible, the
pontiff replied that, "we can dialogue with those who can change
a criminal's heart".
He then urged not to "become part of any network that, in
order to make money, turns me into a lifelong slave in an
internal war and takes away my freedom as peace gives freedom".
"We have the same Mother, let's talk with Her for a moment",
said the pontiff, encouraging to ask to Virgin of Guadalupe for
"peace of the heart, the family, the city, the whole country".
In the interview, the pontiff also said he had travelled to
Mexico twice already, proclaimed his devotion to the Virgin of
Guadalupe.
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