c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Pope John Paul II offered his prayers Sunday (Jan. 24) for embattled Mexican Indians, calling their demands for a better life”legitimate aspirations.” On the third day of a five-day visit to Mexico City, the 78-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff _ with a panoply of prelates from throughout the Americas _ celebrated Mass for what organizers estimated was 1 million people.”Mexico, always faithful,”the crowd chanted as the pope toured the racetrack grounds turned into an outdoor church.

It was the biggest public event scheduled for the pope’s visit to Mexico City, which was also on the itinerary of his first papal trip in 1977..

Later he was to visit the A. Lopez Mateos Regional Hospital and meet privately with children crippled or suffering from cancer and AIDS and 30 other terminally ill patients.

In his homily at the Mass, the pope offered”very affectionate”greetings to the”numerous indigenous people of various regions of Mexico present at this celebration _ a sensitive issue in Mexico, especially in the southernmost state of Chiapas where the rebel Zapatista movement, made up largely of indigenous peasants, is battling the government and conservative landowners.”The pope feels very close to all of you,”he said,”admiring the values of your culture and encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult situations you are going through. I invite you to strive to achieve your development and to do your best to promote yourselves.”Build your future and that of your children with responsibility.” Many Mexican Indians are landless and live in extreme poverty and conservative landowners in Chiapas have sought their ouster of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who has taken the side of the peasants in their struggle.

The pope said he prayed to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of Mexico and the Americas, for the church throughout the Americans, for the faithful and also for”the poor with their needs and their yearnings _ (and for) the hopes and desires of the indigenous people and their culture, peoples who hope to satisfy their legitimate aspirations and to attain the development to which they have the right.” John Paul has made economic justice, equality and the fight against corruption major themes of the visit, his fourth to corruption-plagued Mexico City in the two decades of his pontificate. It is also a country where the sharp disparity between rich and poor is especially evident.

Those issues also figured prominently in an”apostolic exhortation”he issued Saturday (Jan. 23) at a mass in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, summing up the deliberations of a meeting of bishops from throughout the Americas held at the Vatican in late 1997 to prepare for the new millennium.

In that document, which sets out an agenda for Catholics throughout the America, John Paul decried a litany of”social sins …. that cry out to heaven”and urged the creation of a new”continent of life.” The document also touched on issue _ opposition to the death penalty _ that could arise during the pope’s visit to St. Louis that begins Tuesday.

John Paul called recourse to the death penalty”unnecessary … when other bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives … and to protect public order and the safety of persons”and he said cases where it might be justified are”very rare, even non-existent practically.” In Sunday’s homily, John Paul said it is up to the Catholics of Mexico”to commit themselves to aid and promote the most needy among you.”Each and every one of the children of this country must have what is necessary to live a suitable life,”he said.”All members of Mexican society have equal dignity since they are children of God and thus merit all respect and have the right to realize themselves fully in justice and peace.” Describing religious faith as”an integral part of the Mexican nation,”the pope said,”Mexico continues to have need of it to be able to build a more just and fraternal society, jointly with so many who possess nothing and wait for a better future.” His vision of social justice, however, was closely grounded in his theological and religious view of humanity.”The present world sometimes forgets the transcendent values of the human person: dignity and liberty, the inviolable right to life and the inestimable gift of the family, in a climate of solidarity in society,”he said.”Relations among men are not always founded on the principles of charity and reciprocal aid,”he lamented.”To the contrary, the dominant criteria are otherwise, which threaten the harmonious development and integral progress of persons and peoples.” In response, he said, Christians must be”the spirit”of this world, collaborating”in the building of a new society, guided by love and truth.” He also used his Sunday homily to elaborate on his call for a”new evangelization”in the new millennium in which Catholics will, like the early apostles of the church”be fishers of men.””Have the courage to witness the gospel in the streets and the squares, in the valleys and in the mountains of this nation,”he said.”Promote the new evangelization, following the directions of the church.” The pope urged parents to recognize and support religious vocations in their children and warned against the attractions of what he has labeled”proselytizing sects,”whose inroads among Hispanic Catholics are of major concern to the church.”Sons and daughters of Mexico and of all of America, do not search in

deceptive and apparently innovative ideologies for the truth of life,”he said.

In a brief message following the midday Sunday Angelus prayer, the pope noted the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will end Monday (Jan. 25) and reiterated his support for ecumenism.”To reach full communion among all the believers in Christ is a constant objective of the church, which in preparation for the Grand Jubilee of 2000, asks the Lord, with renewed fervor that the desire of Christ that we all might be one might become reality.”Full union among Christians, toward which comforting steps forward are being made, is a gift of the Holy Spirit that we must ask with perseverance,”he said.

DEA END POLK