Mexico awaits Pope’s visit with excitement: Ambassador

January 31, 2012: The forthcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico has aroused feelings of excitement throughout the country, said Mr.Hector F. Ling Altamirano, Ambassador of Mexico to the Holy See. He said that there are news of people and groups planning to travel over 2 thousand miles from Tijuana and Merida to get to see and hear the Pope in Guanajuato, the ambassador said in an interview with Vatican radio on Tuesday .
According to Mr. Altamirano, this excitement is a confirmation of the nature of Catholicism in Mexico. The legacy left by Blessed Pope John Paul II’s five visits to the country is undeniable. The kind of Christianity, strongly Marian, and deeply respectful of the Pope, the Successor of Peter, is a great strength for Mexico, which like many other nations, faces serious problems like economic crisis and violence, the ambassador said.
As to what he expect from the Benedict XVI, he replied that the Pope is a hope and his exhortation will lift "up your hearts" and to work hard together to overcome challenges in the country.
As to whether the Pope’s visit would interfere with the ongoing debate in the Mexican Senate on religious freedom, the ambassador said that ‘no one is capable of setting the agenda of the Pope to coincide with other events that have nothing to do with its pastoral mission.
He hoped that the visit of the Holy Father can provide much material for a serious and profound religious reflection, sociological and cultural on what is now the Catholicism in Mexico.