VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
From the Legion of Christ scandal to the meeting with Fidel Castro, from Mexico to Cuba
Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City
Tomorrow the Pope embarks on a trip that is as much religious as it is political. During his visit, the Pope is expected to meet Cuban dissidents and Fidel Castro but not the Mexican victims of the paedophile founder of the Legion of Christ, Maciel. The potential meeting is not formally part of Benedict XVI’s schedule. “Mexican bishops have not asked for this,” said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. Meanwhile, the climate ahead of the Pope’s arrival in Mexico in heating up on account of the top secret documents published by Mexican magazine Proceso about cover-ups in the Curia. Maciel committed crimes and misdeeds that “Wojtyla could not ignore.”
Benedict XVI will be visiting four cities in Mexico and Cuba. On the occasion of the bicentennial of independence, the leader of the global Catholic Church will make ten speeches over a period of six days, on Central America’s potential and contradictions. Guanajuato is the core of Mexican Catholicism but it is also home to five drug cartels and the scene of violent fighting between criminal organisations and police (with an annual toll of one thousand victims). Mexico is the world’s second most densely populated Catholic Country but anti-clericalism makes it impossible for bishops to exercise their sacred office publicly.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.