Caritas in Mexico: poverty, violence and migration

Pope Benedict XVI is on his first apostolic voyage to Mexico, a nation that is battling many socio-economic issues such as drug-related violence and high levels of poverty.

Ryan Worms is communications officer for the global Catholic aid and development confederation, Caritas Internationalis, and has recently visited the Latin American nation.

In an interview with Philippa Hitchen he speaks about the deep-rooted violence in Mexico and describes how Caritas seeks to alleviate the plight and exploitation of the thousands of migrants from Central and South America who make their way across Mexico in a bid to reach the U.S.A.

Worms says "there is a lot of human trafficking" in Mexico and most of the victims are among these migrants, some of whom are as young as 11 years old.

He says the "lives (of these migrants) are in danger all the time" and around 20,000 have disappeared without trace in the last few years and are thought to have been killed by criminal gangs.


The dangers are not just confined to the migrants says Worms. He reveals how the Caritas staff who help the migrants and provide shelters for them are "in danger" as well, saying: they are "often threatened" and "some of them need special protection."


Asked about the papal visit to Mexico, Worms says "the presence of the Pope in the country "is already a source of joy" for the people and staff and volunteers of Caritas.


Listen to the full interview by Philippa Hitchen with Ryan Worms of Caritas Internationalis: