No big deal for the 84-year-old man who regularly addresses enormous numbers of devoted adherents, both physically and symbolically through a network of faith. Draped in the violet vestments of lent, he began, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the grace and the love of Jesus Christ, which calls us to conversion, be with you all.” His steady words echoed through a large network of speakers and into the hearts of hundreds of thousands of the expectant faithful gathered in Silao, Guanajuato’s Bicentennial Park under the Sunday sun of March 25.
“And with your spirit!” The crowd didn’t need the help of electronics to respond to their pope.
It was Benedict XVI’s first visit to Mexico as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and by most accounts he did an admirable job following in the footsteps of his more-beloved predecessor, John Paul II. The previous pope made five pastoral visits to Mexico, where he was always received with enthusiasm and fervor.
In order to ingratiate himself with Mexico’s 74.6 million Catholics, the German-born Benedict XVI sported a black charro hat on his popemobile ride through the crowd Sunday.
Most news outlets put the huge assembly anywhere from 200,000 to 300,000 souls, while the most generous estimates were closer to 600,000. They streamed in from all over the country, some traveling hundreds of miles to pack the huge space so full that organizers had to turn later arrivals away, even if they had tickets.
The state and local governments invested some 44 million pesos in infrastructure and security for the massive event, with the rest of the (undisclosed) cost covered by the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, the National Tourism Confederation of Mexico (CNT) estimates that the visit generated 70 to 80 million pesos for the local economies of Guanajuato.
The pope’s homily vaguely alluded to Mexico’s infamous drug war, urging believers to “trust in God’s mercy and in the hope that he would change from within, from the heart, an unbearable, dark and hopeless situation.”
President Felipe Calderon and all three of the major parties’ presidential candidates were in attendance, but the pope only took time to meet with Calderon. During their brief meeting, the president and the pontiff discussed climate change, the fight against hunger, nuclear disarmament and better international arms controls.
As of 2009, almost half of Mexico’s population was 25 or under, making the pope’s outreach to children especially prominent during his visit – a strategy John Paul II started as church attendance declined in the latter 20th century.
On Saturday evening he addressed the country’s youth from Guanajuato’s Plaza de la Paz. “You have a very special place in the Pope’s heart. And in these moments, I would like all the children of Mexico to know this, especially those who have to bear the burden of suffering, abandonment, violence or hunger.”
The pope also took time to celebrate Vespers with a gathering of Latin America’s bishops after Sunday’s mass. He then retired to his accommodations to rest for his trip to Cuba the following day.
In his farewell address at Guanajuato’s Bajio International Airport, His Holiness touched once more on Mexico’s problems, saying, “I have also seen for myself expressions of concern for various aspects of the life in this beloved country, some more recent and others long-standing, which continue to cause such great distress.” He then urged the Catholics of Mexico to stick together and to uplift their nation.