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What's the big deal about a visit from a Pope? What would make a city re-paint the roads, buildings, trash cans, and benches along the route the Pope will travel? We understand that the Pope is the earthly leader of the Roman Catholic Church, but nevertheless we often wonder why all the attention. The majority of Mexicans (like most people in Latin America) are devout Catholics. Therefore, they go to all extremes to greet their leader. Pope John Paul II also holds Mexico close to his heart. It was here, at the feet of La Virgen de Guadalupe, that he discovered his calling to take the message of Jesus Christ to all parts of the earth. This took place during the first of four visits to Mexico three months after he took office in 1979. Since then the "pilgrim" Pope has made 85 trips to over 120 countries. It is often said that great changes take place after a visit from the Pope. Nicaragua is one of the Latin American countries that proves that changes do take place. Pope John Paul II visited Nicaragua, then led by the Marxist Sandinistas, to try to put a stop to the establishment of a "people's church" that would support the government's programs. Shortly after, the Sandinistas lost control of the government. In Chile, the Pope asked General Augusto Pinochet to resign his position as the country's dictatorial leader. Two years later, free elections were held in Chile. The Pope made the division between rich and poor obvious in Brazil when he gave his ring to a poor parish. This proved his point that poverty should not be such a problem as long as the church's followers obey the teachings of Christ. Perhaps the country that saw the greatest change after a visit from the Pope, was Cuba. Until the Pope's visit in 1998, Cuba was the only Spanish-speaking country that no Pope had ever visited. After Fidel Castro declared Cuba a communist country in 1962, the country was officially declared atheist. Priests and nuns were jailed or forced into exhile, Church-ran schools were forced to close their doors, outdoor Masses were banned, jobs were denied to practicing Catholics, and Christmas and Easter were no longer considered holidays. In preparation for the Pope's visit, Castro declared Christmas a holiday in 1997, authorized processions, and legalized entry into the country by foreign priests. During the vist from Pope John Paul II, Castro even abandoned his traditional olive-green army uniform for a navy-blue suit. The Pope brought a message of political and religious freedom, personal moral responsibility, and reconciliation between Cubans in exhile and those in their homeland. Since the visit, Christmas has been officially declared a permant holiday and for the first time Cardinal Jaime Ortega read a religious Christmas message over the government radio. Finally, in February, Latin American leaders of the Catholic Church will meet in Cuba to discuss ways of implementing the Pope's cry for a unified church. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Why all the fuss? - The Pope visits Mexico City in Spanish is owned by Twila Godinez. Permission to republish Why all the fuss? - The Pope visits Mexico City in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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