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Juarez, Mexico, Feb 17, 2016 / 10:00 am (CNA).- Update: 2:10 pm EST - Read the full version of the prepared remarks from Pope Francis' address to inmates in Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 17, 2016.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am coming to the end of my visit to Mexico, and I could not leave without greeting you and celebrating with you the Jubilee of Mercy.

I am deeply grateful for your words of welcome, which express your many hopes and aspirations, as well as your many sorrows, fears and uncertainties.

During my visit to Africa, I was able to open the door of mercy for the whole world in the city of Bangui. United to you and with you today, I want to reiterate once more the confidence that Jesus urges us to have: the mercy that embraces everyone and is found in every corner of the world.

There is no place beyond the reach of his mercy, no space or person it cannot touch.

Celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy with you is recalling the pressing journey that we must undertake in order to break the cycle of violence and crime. We have already lost many decades thinking and believing that everything will be resolved by isolating, separating, incarcerating, and ridding ourselves of problems, believing that these policies really solve problems. We have forgotten to focus on what must truly be our concern: people’s lives; their lives, those of their families, and those who have suffered because of this cycle of violence.

Divine Mercy reminds us that prisons are an indication of the kind of society we are. In many cases they are a sign of the silence and omissions which have led to a throwaway culture, a symptom of a culture that has stopped supporting life, of a society that has abandoned its children.

Mercy reminds us that reintegration does not begin here within these walls; rather it begins before, it begins “outside”, in the streets of the city. Reintegration or rehabilitation begins by creating a system which we could call social health, that is, a society which seeks not to cause sickness, polluting relationships in neighbourhoods, schools, town squares, the streets, homes and in the whole of the social spectrum. A system of social health that endeavours to promote a culture which acts and seeks to prevent those situations and pathways that end in damaging and impairing the social fabric.

At times it may seem that prisons are intended more to prevent people from committing crimes than to promote the process of rehabilitation that allows us to address the social, psychological and family problems which lead a person to act in a certain way. The problem of security is not resolved only by incarcerating; rather, it calls us to intervene by confronting the structural and cultural causes of insecurity that impact the entire social framework.

Jesus’ concern for the care of the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless and prisoners (cf. Mt 25:34-40) sought to express the core of the Father’s mercy. This becomes a moral imperative for the whole of society that wishes to maintain the necessary conditions for a better common life. It is within a society’s capacity to include the poor, infirm and imprisoned, that we see its ability to heal their wounds and make them builders of a peaceful coexistence. Social reintegration begins by making sure that all of our children go to school and that their families obtain dignified work by creating public spaces for leisure and recreation, and by fostering civic participation, health services and access to basic services, to name just a few possible measures.

 Celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy with you means learning not to be prisoners of the past, of yesterday. It means learning to open the door to the future, to tomorrow; it means believing that things can change. Celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy with you means inviting you to lift up your heads and to work in order to gain this space of longed-for freedom.

We know that we cannot turn back, we know that what is done, is done. This is the way I wanted to celebrate with you the Jubilee of Mercy, because it does not exclude the possibility of writing a new story and moving forward. You suffer the pain of a failure, you feel the remorse of your actions and in many cases, with great limitations, you seek to remake your lives in the midst of solitude. You have known the power of sorrow and sin, and have not forgotten that within your reach is the power of the resurrection, the power of divine mercy which makes all things new.

Now, this mercy can reach you in the hardest and most difficult of places, but such occasions can also perhaps bring truly positive results. From inside this prison, you must work hard to change the situations which create the most exclusion. Speak with your loved ones, tell them of your experiences, help them to put an end to this cycle of violence and exclusion. The one who has suffered the greatest pain, and we could say “has experienced hell”, can become a prophet in society. Work so that this society which uses people and discards them will not go on claiming victims.

I wish also to encourage those who work in this Centre or others like it: the directors, prison guards, and all who undertake any type of work in this Centre. And I am also grateful for the efforts made by the chaplains, consecrated persons and lay faithful who have dedicated themselves to keeping alive the hope of the Gospel of Mercy in the prison. Never forget that all of you can be signs of the heart of the Father. We need one another to keep on moving forward.

Before giving you my blessing, I would like for us all to pray a moment in silence. From the depths of our hearts, may each one of us ask God to help us believe in his mercy.

And I ask you, do not forget to pray for me.

 

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Juarez, Mexico, Feb 17, 2016 / 11:45 am (CNA).- Update:  3:00 pm EST - Read the full text of Pope Francis' prepared remarks for his Feb. 17 meeting with the world of labour at the Bachilleres College in the state of Chihuahua.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I wanted to meet with you here in this land of Juárez, because of the special relationship this city has with the world of labour. I am grateful not only for your words of welcome and for your testimonies, which reveal the anxieties, joys and hopes of your lives, but also for this opportunity to share and reflect together. Anything we can do to foster dialogue, encounter, and the search for better alternatives and opportunities is already an accomplishment to be valued and highlighted. Obviously more needs to be done, and today we do not have the luxury of missing any chance to encounter, discuss, confront or search. This is the only way we will be able to build for tomorrow, to create sustainable relationships capable of providing the needed framework that, little by little, will rebuild the social bonds so damaged by a lack of communication and by a lack of the minimal respect necessary for a healthy coexistence. So I thank you, and I hope that this occasion may serve to build the future. May it be a good opportunity to forge the Mexico that its people and children deserve.

I would like to dwell on this latter point. Here today there are various workers’ organizations and representatives of Commerce Chambers and business associations. At first sight they could be considered as adversaries, but they are united by the same responsibility: seeking to create employment opportunities which are dignified and truly beneficial for society and especially for the young of this land. One of the greatest scourges for young people is the lack of opportunities for study and for sustainable and profitable work, which would permit them to work for the future. In many cases, this lack of opportunity leads to situations of poverty. This poverty then becomes the best breeding ground for the young to fall into the cycle of drug trafficking and violence. It is a luxury which no one can afford; we cannot allow the present and future of Mexico to be alone and abandoned.

Unfortunately, the times we live in have imposed the paradigm of economic utility as the starting point for personal relationships. The prevailing mentality advocates for the greatest possible profits, immediately and at any cost. This not only causes the ethical dimension of business to be lost, but it also forgets that the best investment we can make is in people, in individual persons and in families. The best investment is creating opportunities. The prevailing mentality puts the flow of people at the service of the flow of capital, resulting in many cases in the exploitation of employees as if they were objects to be used and discarded (cf. Laudato Si’, 123). God will hold us accountable for the slaves of our day, and we must do everything to make sure that these situations do not happen again. The flow of capital cannot decide the flow and life of people.

When faced with tenets of the Church’s Social Doctrine, it is objected frequently: “These teachings would have us be charitable organizations or that we transform our businesses into philanthropic institutions”. The only aspiration of the Church’s Social Doctrine is to guard over the integrity of people and social structures. Every time that, for whatever reason, this integrity is threatened or reduced to a consumer good, the Church’s Social Doctrine will be a prophetic voice to protect us all from being lost in the seductive sea of ambition. Every time that a person’s integrity is violated, society, in a certain sense, begins to decline. This is against no one, but in favour of all. Every sector has the obligation of looking out for the good of all; we are all in the same boat. We all have to struggle to make sure that work is a humanizing moment which looks to the future; that it is a space for building up society and each person’s participation in it. This attitude not only provides an immediate improvement, but in the long run it will also transform society into a culture capable of promoting a dignified space for everyone. This culture, born many times out of tension, is creating a new style of relationships, a new kind of nation.

What kind of world do we want to leave our children? I believe that the vast majority of us can agree. This is precisely our horizon, our goal, and we have to come together and work for this. It is always good to think about what I would like to leave my children; it is also a good way to think of others’ children. What kind of Mexico do you want to leave your children? Do you want to leave them the memory of exploitation, of insufficient pay, of workplace harassment? Or do you want to leave them a culture which recalls dignified work, a proper roof, and land to be worked? What type of culture do we want for those who will come after us? What air will they breathe? An air tainted by corruption, violence, insecurity and suspicion, or, on the contrary, an air capable of generating alternatives, renewal and change?

I know that the issues raised are not easy, but it is worse to leave the future in the hands of corruption, brutality and the lack of equity. I know it is often not easy to bring all parties together in negotiations, but it is worse, and we end up doing more harm, when there is a lack of negotiations and appreciation. I know it is not easy to get along in an increasingly competitive world, but it is worse to allow the competitive world to ruin the destiny of the people. Profit and capital are not a good over and above the human person; they are at the service of the common good. When the common good is used only in the service of profit and capital, the only thing gained is known as exclusion.

I began by thanking you for this opportunity to be together. I wish now to invite you to dream of Mexico, to build the Mexico that your children deserve; a Mexico where no one is first, second, or fourth; a Mexico where each sees in the other the dignity of a child of God. May our Lady of Guadalupe, who made herself known to Juan Diego, and revealed how the seemingly abandoned were her privileged witnesses, help and accompany us in this our work.

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Juarez, Mexico, Feb 17, 2016 / 12:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On his last day in Mexico, Pope Francis traveled to a city notorious for its violence and drug activity, meeting with inmates at a prison to deliver the message that no matter what their regrets, it’s never too late to start again.

“United to you and with you today, I want to reiterate once more the confidence that Jesus urges us to have: the mercy that embraces everyone and is found in every corner of the world,” the Pope said Feb. 17.

“There is no place beyond the reach of his mercy, no space or person it cannot touch.”

Pope Francis traveled to Ciudad Juarez, which borders the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, on the last day of his Feb. 12-17 visit to Mexico, which is the first international trip he has made during the Jubilee of Mercy.

His stop in the city is symbolic, both because it is known for serious problems with drug cartels and violence, and because of the high numbers of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central Am erica who daily cross into the United States through the Juarez-El Paso border, often seeking to escape violence in their home countries.

After telling youth in Mexico’s crime-ridden city of Morelia yesterday not to give in to the lies of drug dealers or be used by people with selfish interests, he told the prisoners that even though they have perhaps chosen this path, there is still hope that they, and society, can change.

He pointed to the ongoing Jubilee of Mercy, saying that to celebrate it with them is a reminder of the “pressing journey that we must undertake in order to break the cycle of violence and crime.”

“We have already lost many decades thinking and believing that everything will be resolved by isolating, separating, incarcerating and ridding ourselves of problems, believing that these policies really solve problems,” he said.

However, what we have forgotten, Francis continued, is that our focus and true concern ought to be people’s lives, the lives of their families, as well as those “who have suffered because of this cycle of violence.”

The Pope said that prisons often say something about the society in which they are located. In many cases, he noted, prisons serve as a sign of “the silence and omissions” that have led to a throwaway culture that has ceased to support life and which has abandoned its children.

Mercy, then, serves as a reminder that reintegration doesn’t begin inside the prison walls, but rather outside “on the streets.”

“Reintegration or rehabilitation begins by creating a system which we could call social health, that is, a society which seeks not to cause sickness, polluting relationships in neighborhoods, schools, town squares, the streets, homes and in the whole of the social spectrum,” he said.

Jesus’ own concern for the hungry, homeless and prisoner was an expression of the core of God’s mercy, Pope Francis said, adding that this ought to serve as a “moral imperative” for a society that wants better the conditions of everyday life.

Included in these conditions, he said, are the guarantee that all children have access to school, that everyone has an opportunity for dignified work, and that public spaces are created for leisure and recreation.

Francis said that to celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy means leaning “not to be prisoners of the past,” but rather to “open the door to the future” and believe that change is possible.

“We know that we cannot turn back, we know that what is done, is done,” he said, explaining that he wanted to celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy with them there “because it does not exclude the possibility of writing a new story and moving forward.”

Despite suffering the pain of failure, the sorrow of sin and remorse for what they may have done in the past, Pope Francis said that the power of the Resurrection and of the Divine Mercy that “makes all things new” is still within their reach.

“This mercy can reach you in the hardest and most difficult of places, but such occasions can also perhaps bring truly positive results,” he said, reflecting on the capacity of those who have suffered to be bring about change in society.

Francis closed his speech by leading inmates in a moment of silent prayer, asking that each one pray for God “to help us believe in his mercy.”

 

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Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 17, 2016 / 01:12 pm (CNA).- A visibly upset Pope Francis had some tough words for a rowdy crowd when their shoving caused him to fall on a disabled boy during an event in Mexico.  

Following an encounter with young people in the city of Morelia, Pope Francis took time to greet those in the crowd, distributing rosaries as he went.

At one point, the jostling of the crowd trying to grab a rosary from the pontiff was so severe that the Pope lost his balance, falling forward on a boy in a wheelchair.

“What's going on with you? Don't be selfish! Don't be selfish!” Francis said forcefully as he got back up.

Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office, later told the media that the Pope’s response was natural, given the circumstances. 

“It's a very human reaction, very normal... anyone in a similar situation would have reacted that way, especially after a long day of activities,” he said.

The spokesman said that after many meetings where the Pope “was giving everything he had to be kind with everyone, he is pulled down from one side and started to fall – this really is something that can put you on edge.”

Fr. Lombardi said the event is ultimately of little importance and noted that the pontiff continued on with his activities with the same enthusiasm and affection as before.

Pope Francis was in the city of Morelia on his fourth full day of his Feb. 12-17 visit to Mexico. He also spent time visiting a children’s hospital and prison, praying before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and meeting with young people, workers, religious and civil authorities.

His final major event will be a Feb. 17 Mass in Ciudad Juárez, a city plagued by drug violence which borders the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Mexican Government Televison pool via Reuters

By Junno Arocho Esteves

MORELIA, Mexico (CNS) -- Excitement turned potentially dangerous and elicited an angry snap from Pope Francis at a meeting with young people in Morelia Feb. 16.

As the 79-year-old pope made his way to greet a boy in a wheelchair, one of the many pilgrims behind the boy pulled the pope's arm, causing him to fall over the disabled youth.

Security personnel immediately helped him up as the pilgrim continued to latch onto him. Visibly concerned for the young boy in the wheelchair he leaned against, the pope emphatically scolded the young pilgrim, saying: "Pero que te pasa? No seas egoista! No seas egoista!" ("What is the matter? Don't be selfish! Don't be selfish!")

The scene, which was witnessed by thousands watching the event, prompted organizers to plead with pilgrims to show some restraint.

"Please contain yourself," the announcer said. "Pope Francis wants to greet us, but if we pile up, it will be difficult to do so."

Later, the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said, "It was a very human, very normal reaction" to a situation that was potentially dangerous and one that came near the end of a long day.

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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By David Agren

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (CNS) -- Pope Francis urged society to rethink its ideas of locking up inmates and throwing away the key, calling such an approach another symptom of the "throwaway culture" he often decries and "a symptom of a culture that has stopped supporting life, of a society that has abandoned its children."

Speaking in a prison previously plagued by riots and controlled by drug cartels in a city once considered the "murder capital of the world," the pope proposed focusing on prevention, reintegration and a system of "social health," instead of on only on incarceration and insisting that inmates pay for their crimes.

"Celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy with you is recalling the pressing journey that we must undertake in order to break the cycle of violence and crime," Pope Francis said Feb. 17 at Cereso prison, home to some 3,000 inmates.

"We have already lost many decades thinking and believing that everything will be resolved by isolating, separating, incarcerating, and ridding ourselves of problems, believing that these policies really solve problems," the pope continued. "We have forgotten to focus on what must truly be our concern: people's lives; their lives, those of their families, and those who have suffered because of this cycle of violence."

Pope Francis often includes prison visits in his papal tours, drawing attention to a population on the periphery of the church he is trying to construct. Prison officials in Ciudad Juarez say their facility -- once considered the most violent in Latin America -- has vastly improved since the horror of its worst year 2010, when 216 murders were committed there and rival gangs, fighting for control of drugs running through Ciudad Juarez, carried out crimes from behind bars.

His trip drew attention to the horrors of Mexico's oft-maligned prison system, marked by overcrowding, corruption and inmates paying for privileges, protection and basics -- everything from toilet paper to proper food. Inmate control inside correctional facilities is common.

The trip follows a brawl -- blamed on incarcerated members of rival cartels clashing -- in a Monterrey prison a week earlier. Forty-nine inmates died. Pope Francis sent condolences for the tragedy in the Topo Chico prison, where state officials subsequently found luxury cells with king-size beds, bars and even a sauna.

In Ciudad Juarez, the pope proposed prevention, along with reintegration and rehabilitation, which he said, "begins outside, in the streets of the city."

It also "begins by creating a system which we could call social health, that is, a society which seeks not to cause sickness, polluting relationships in neighborhoods, schools, town squares, the streets, homes and in the whole of the social spectrum ... a system of social health that endeavors to promote a culture which acts and seeks to prevent those situations and pathways that end in damaging and impairing the social fabric."

Pope Francis mentioned the Year of Mercy often in his address to inmates, saying: "Jesus urges us to have mercy that embraces everyone and is found in every corner of the world. There is no place beyond the reach of his mercy, no space or person it cannot touch."

He called concern for prisoners "a moral imperative for the whole society," in working to toward an improved "common life."

"It is within a society's capacity to include the poor, infirm and imprisoned, that we see its ability to heal their wounds and make them builders of a peaceful coexistence," Pope Francis said. "Social reintegration begins by making sure that all of our children go to school and that their families obtain dignified work by creating public spaces for leisure and recreation, and by fostering civic participation, health services and access to basic services, to name just a few possible measures."

"Social reintegration begins by making sure that all of our children go to school and that their families obtain dignified work by creating public spaces for leisure and recreation, and by fostering civic participation, health services and access to basic services, to name just a few possible measures."

Toward the end of the brief meeting, Pope Francis joined the inmates for a moment of silent prayer, telling them that only they knew what they would ask forgiveness for. Several inmates were seen crying as they prayed.

"I tell you from my own wounds, errors and sin," he said, "that the Lord wants to forgive."

He ended his talk with the assembled inmates, sitting under sunny skies outside a recently renovated prison chapel, by urging them to no long be "prisoners of the past," learn to "open the door to the future," and speak with their loved ones to put an end to "this cycle of violence and exclusion."

"The one who has suffered the greatest pain, and we could say 'has experienced hell,' can become a prophet in society," he said. "Work so that this society, which uses people and discards them will not go on claiming victims."

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Follow Agren on Twitter: @el_reportero.

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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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