Pope Benedict XVI decries drug violence in Mexico

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Benedict XVI denounced the drug-fueled violence wracking Mexico and urged Cubans to use dialogue to find new models to replace Marxism as he began a pilgrimage Friday that will take him to both countries.

Benedict spoke to reporters after breakfast aboard a special Alitalia flight carrying him to central Mexico later in the day. The pope said "idolatry of money" lies behind the violence that has claimed more than 47,000 lives in Mexico since a government crackdown began in 2006.

On Monday, Benedict will leave Mexico for Cuba, where he said that it is "evident that Marxist ideology as it was conceived no longer responds to reality," and he urged Cubans to "find new models, with patience, and in a constructive way."

The pope replied to a few questions from journalists which were submitted before the trip.

Talking about Mexico, he decried that the violence, and the lust for money that he said lies behind it, were destroying that predominantly Catholic country’s young people in particular.

Benedict said that the "great responsibility of the church is to educate the conscience, teach moral responsibility and strip off the mask (from) the idolatry of money that enslaves mankind, and unmask the false promise, this lie that is behind" the drug culture.

A journalist asked Benedict what has changed in Cuba since the groundbreaking visit in 1998 by his predecessor, John Paul II to the Caribbean island, which had then been ruled by Marxist leader Fidel Castro for four decades.

In Cuba "today it is evident that Marxist ideology as it was conceived no longer responds to reality," Benedict replied. "So you have to find new models, with patience, and in a constructive way."

The journalist referred to reports that dissidents in Cuba are still routinely harassed and arrested, including in the weeks leading up to Benedict’s visit.

Benedict said that the church wants "to help in the spirit of dialogue to avoid trauma and to help bring about a just and fraternal society, as we want in the whole world."

"We want to collaborate in this sense, and it’s obvious that the church is always on the side on the side of freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion," the pope said.

Benedict said John Paul’s visit to Cuba ushered in a slow process of dialogue and cooperation between church and state on the island.

The weeklong trip to Mexico and Cuba, Benedict’s first to both countries, will be a test of stamina for the pope, who turns 85 next month. At the airport on Friday in Rome, the pope used a cane, apparently for the first time in public, as he walked the 100 meters (yards) between the helicopter that took him to the tarmac to the airliner’s steps.

Papal aides, speaking condition of anonymity, said Benedict has been using the cane in private for about two months because it makes him feel more secure, not for any medical reason. Last fall, Benedict started using a wheeled platform to navigate the vast spaces of St. Peter’s Basilica during ceremonies. The Vatican has said that device was employed to help the pope save his energy.

Papal aides, speaking condition of anonymity, said Benedict has been using the cane in private for about two months because it makes him feel more secure, not for any medical reason.

Pope Benedict XVI uses a walking stick as he boards his plane to leave for his pastoral visit to Mexico and Cuba, at Fiumicino International Airport in Rome March 23, 2012.

Sometimes the media focus on aging popes is so laughable. AP has actually run a story on the pope and his cane. God bless Pope Benedict XVI. I hope that if I reach his age, a walking cane is the only support needed ;-)

2 posted on 03/23/2012 7:21:19 AM PDT by NYer (He who hides in his heart the remembrance of wrongs is like a man who feeds a snake on his chest. St)

He sure doesnt look "so frail" to me. I know people 10 years older than he who keep a busier schedule than I do.

This culture (as expressed by the media) can scarcely conceal its fear of its own ensuing frailty and the hatred of the weak and the aged which springs from it.

Free market capitalism practiced by people of good moral character is pretty well proven to bring the most benefits to the most people.

The pain of capitalism uses arises from theft and lies.

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