MEXICO CITY (MCT) — Pope Benedict XVI donned a sombrero Sunday and stayed away from politics in his first open-air Mass in Latin America, urging Roman Catholics in Mexico to seek a pure heart and avoid “superficial and routine temptation.”
A crowd estimated by the quasi-official Notimex news agency at 400,000 people gathered under a blazing sun for the Mass in Guanajuato state.
On the third day of a six-day trip that also will take him to Cuba, the pontiff only tangentially touched on the violence roiling Mexico, saying he was aware of the “moments of both pain and hope” coursing through the region’s people.
Mustering strength limited by his age but walking without a cane, the 84-year-old Benedict sought to uplift Mexicans, saying the power of Christ is based on the ability to reach out to people’s hearts, not in the power of armies “to make others submit to force or violence.”
Before the homily, Archbishop Jose Martin Rabago of Leon told the pontiff that Mexicans have passed through years “of violence and death that have generated a feeling of fear.”
Enthusiasm for Benedict’s visit was low before his arrival. But excitement grew with wall-to-wall television coverage, building even to rapturous levels.
The outpouring of faith seemed to melt the pontiff’s staid demeanor, leading to several apparently unscripted and lighthearted moments.
One came early Sunday as Benedict’s white Popemobile approached the soaring outdoor altar. Someone handed a black sombrero of the type used by mariachis through a window to the pope. He good-naturedly put it on.
