MEXICO
Courier Mail (Australia)
FROM the war on drug cartels in Mexico to reviving faith in Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI will address a series of burning issues in Latin America this week.
On his 23rd visit abroad and his first to Latin America, the pontiff will tackle the declining number of Catholics in the region, the rise of rival religious movements such as Pentecostalists and what the Church sees as the threat to family values.
The six-day program, starting in Mexico on Friday, takes into account the frailty of the aged pope, who will conduct both political meetings and religious rites focusing on the marian figures of Mexico’s Our Lady of Guadalupe and Cuba’s Our lady of Charity.
Benedict, 84, is likely to face criticism over the clerical abuse scandal and the Vatican’s management of Mexico’s most famous offender, Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, who was accused of molesting eight minors.
The Vatican has already ruled out a meeting with victims of paedophilia.
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