{"id":128584,"date":"2016-02-17T20:26:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T03:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=128584"},"modified":"2016-02-17T20:26:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T03:26:41","slug":"pope-francis-border-mass-awes-el-paso-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/02\/pope-francis-border-mass-awes-el-paso-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis&#8217; border mass awes El Paso Catholics"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_90166\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-90166\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis-771x577.jpg\" alt=\"Pope Francis\" width=\"771\" height=\"577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis-771x577.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis-336x251.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis-1170x875.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Pope-Francis.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Jeffrey Bruno \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pope Francis, shown here in 2014, delivered a stirring message on Wednesday in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez &#8212; a city recovering from years of its own death and destruction at the hands of warring rival drug gangs and law enforcement. The pope&#8217;s\u00a0message held audiences captive on both sides of the river.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>EL PASO, Texas \u2014 Within plain sight of Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, their sister city just south of the Rio Grande, thousands of El Pasoans heard Pope Francis speak of the ancient city Nineveh, a once great place where the people thrived.<\/p>\n<p>In his well-known way, mild-mannered yet powerful, he spoke of the city\u2019s destruction due to \u201coppression and dishonor, violence and injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/02\/17\/el-pasos-catholics-awed-pope-franciss-border-mass\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The stirring message delivered in a city recovering from years of its own death and destruction at the hands of warring rival drug gangs and law enforcement held audiences captive on both sides of the river.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Father called and sent forth his messenger,\u201d he said in Spanish. \u201cGo and help them to understand that by the way they treat each other, ordering and organizing themselves, they are only creating death and destruction, suffering and oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mass \u2014 celebrated in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez and broadcast to thousands at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso \u2014 capped off a whirlwind one-day trip to the city considered just a few years ago the \u201cMurder Capital of the World.\u201d Thousands lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the pontiff, who delivered on expectations that he would be as outspoken on social issues as during the rest of his trip to Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>He implored officials to have mercy on the immigrants who are abused as they make their way northward. He also asked what officials were to make of the thousands of women who have disappeared in the industrial Mexican city since the 1990s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot deny the humanitarian crisis which in recent years has meant the migration of thousands of people, whether by train or highway or on foot, crossing hundreds of kilometers through mountains, deserts and inhospitable zones,\u201d he said. \u201cThe human tragedy that is forced migration is a global phenomenon today.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>But Francis left on a positive note, trying to instill in audiences on both sides a message of hope and patience. He said he is always surprised by Mexico, and thanked the country and its people for welcoming him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis time for conversion, this time for salvation, is the time for mercy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Betty Mitchell, 69, who was raised in El Paso but now lives in Waco, said the message of compassion and self-awareness was exactly what she expected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe camaraderie between the two communities is so important,\u201d she said. \u201cWe do need to see a better vision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Cesar Blanco, D-El Paso, attended the stadium event and said he hoped the message on immigration would resonate 600 miles to the east at the state Capitol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a message to Texas and to Texas leaders that these are human beings,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially as we have a debate on border security in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Media officials at the stadium said the diocese sold more than 30,000 tickets for the event, though actual attendance was unknown as of press time. The stadium, which seats about 51,000, appeared more than half full for the duration of the nearly two-hour event.<\/p>\n<p>Mexico and Texas\u2019 younger generations were well represented at the events, adding to Francis\u2019s reputation as a church leader for a new generation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he seems really cool. I like him, he seems fun,\u201d said Krystal Garcia, a budding hip-hop artist raised in central El Paso.\u00a0 \u201cI just think that he\u2019s doing things that other Popes haven\u2019t done, like coming down here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The mass capped off a trip to that also included a visit to the state prison, where his Holiness urged the 700 inmates to remember that a new path to salvation was still possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[You] have not forgotten that within your reach is the power of the resurrection, the power of divine mercy which makes all things new,&#8221; he said, <a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/latest-pope-concludes-mexico-trip-visit-us-border-140054286.html\" target=\"_blank\">according<\/a> to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>At 8 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of Juarenses that had likely been in place all day remained standing to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis as he traveled to the city&#8217;s airport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Francis delivered a stirring message on Wednesday in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez &#8212; a city recovering from years of its own death and destruction at the hands of warring rival drug gangs and law enforcement. The pope&#8217;s message held audiences captive on both sides of the river.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[140,236,177,2260],"class_list":["post-128584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-mexico","tag-religion","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}