Silao/Leon, Mexico (dpa) – Pope Benedict XVI arrived Friday in Mexico as a “pilgrim of hope,” to start a six-day trip that includes Cuba. “With this brief visit I'd like to shake the hands of all Mexicans and include the nations and peoples of Latin America,” Benedict told an eager crowd at Guanajuato International Airport in the city of Silao, in the central state of Guanajuato. “I come here as a pilgrim of faith, of hope and of charity. I wish to confirm the faith of those who believe in Christ, to strengthen them in it, and to encourage them to revitalize it,” the pope said. In his second trip to Latin America as pope, after a 2007 visit to Brazil, Benedict was greeted with a mariachi band and dancing, while a 35-kilometer human wall accompanied him as he went on his trademark “popemobile” from the airport to the place in the nearby city of Leon where he is to stay until he leaves Mexico Monday. Several thousand people awaited the pontiff, who was welcomed at the airport by Mexican President Felipe Calderon amid shouts of “Benedicto!” The German-born pope, who turns 85 next month, appeared to be in good shape as he walked down the plane steps without help, smiling as he walked along a red carpet to the marquee. He had used a walking stick hours earlier as he made his way to the Alitalia Boeing 777 in Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci airport. It was Benedict's first public appearance with a cane, though he has used other walking aids in the past, including a moving platform. “Mexico feels very honored to be the first Spanish-speaking nation you visit on the American continent,” Calderon said. Calderon made a reference to “the merciless violence” that is ravaging the country, where around 50,000 people have died in the past five years in incidents linked to organized crime. “Your visit fills us with joy at a time of great tribulation,” he told the pope. The pope too made reference to Mexico's troubles. “Continue to press on without wavering in the construction of a society that has as its foundations the development of good, the triumph of love and the spread of justice,” he told the Mexican faithful. A large crowd, which Mexican media estimated at around 300,000 people, gathered on the roadsides to witness the pontiff's first “popemobile” trip on Mexican soil. “We live it, we feel it, the pope is here!” people sang on the streets, as they waved small Vatican flags. Under the watchful eyes of his security personnel in a score of cars and motorcycles, Benedict waved at the crowd from his custom-built vehicle brought from Rome. Yellow and white papers were thrown into the air along the route that took the pope from the airport to Leon, where he was to stay at the Colegio Miraflores for the duration of his trip in Mexico. “Benedict, brother, now you are a Mexican!” people sang. Others rode bicycles on lanes parallel to that where the pope was traveling, to catch a longer glimpse of the pontiff. People in wheelchairs, some with crutches and others who were obviously sick were seen in the crowd too. As he arrived at the Colegio Miraflores, Benedict blessed several of them. During his stay in Mexico – a country with the world's second-largest Roman Catholic population after Brazil – Benedict will remain in the state of Guanajuato, where several million people are expected on the streets to see the pope during his four-day visit. “It's a historic occasion for Guanajuato to catch the eye of the world, but more importantly for the pope to give Mexico, Guanajuato, a message of encouragement,” state Governor Juan Manuel Oliva Martinez told dpa Thursday. The pontiff will skip Mexico City due to its high altitude of 2,240 meters, which the Vatican says is not good for his health. After a private Mass, Benedict was to meet with Calderon in private Saturday in state capital Guanajuato, also near Leon. In the afternoon, the pope is to greet Mexican children. The main event of Benedict's stay in Mexico is to be an open-air Mass in the Leon's Bicentennial Park, at the foot of the mountain known as Cerro del Cubilete, where there is a large statue of Jesus with arms outstretched. Mexican parishes have handed out 300,000 free tickets for the Mass, but authorities believe that at least as many could show up without tickets to witness the event from nearby mountain sides. On Monday, Benedict departs for Cuba for a trip of less than 48 hours during which he plans to visit Santiago de Cuba and the capital, Havana. The pope is due back in Rome on March 29. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/aTBgN Tags: Benedict, Catholic, Mexico, Pope Section: Latest News, North America, Religion
