El Paso (WBAP/KLIF News) – Pope Francis has finished a five day visit to Mexico.
The pope ended the trip Wednesday afternoon with a Mass in Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso. The Diocese of El Paso set up a simulcast of the Mass at the Sun Bowl.
Pope Francis offered a blessing to those watching the simulcast.
“I am blessed, I am truly blessed,” said one man as he left the stadium. “As a matter of fact, I posted on facebook immediately that I’m blessed to be here.”
Pope Francis also walked to the edge of the Rio Grande and offered a blessing to hundreds of immigrants who had gathered on the other side.
During his homily, the pope said we cannot deny a humanitarian crisis that has forced thousands of people to move. Pope Francis called on countries to welcome people trying to escape poverty or persecution.
“He cares deeply about people, and anyone who tries to look at this as simply a political thing is missing the point,” says John Wester, the Archbishop of Santa Fe.
Wester says the issue moves beyond political issues and instead should be considered a “moral” or “human” issue.
“I was touched by what he said in Mexico: ‘If you want security, you have to give security, if you want opportunity, you have to give opportunity,’” Wester says.
The pope said the Mexican government was not presenting enough opportunities for young people to forge a life outside cartels. He called on Mexican leaders to make the nation a better place to live.
Francis’ first trip after becoming pope took him to the Italian island of Lampedusa. The island in the Mediterranean Sea dealt with a spike in migrants from northern Africa in 2013.
At the time, Francis condemned what he described as “global indifference” to poverty and conflict.
“I think that’s his message to all of us, not just in the United States,” Wester says. “This goes well beyond political issues. It’s moral issues and human issues.”
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