Proceso: Jenaro Villamil*
Translated by Rachel Alexander
With expectations too high in various critical sectors of a society irritated by corruption, impunity, violence and official criminalization, Pope Francis' visit to Mexico is going into its fourth day and has not shaken things up as hoped, nor has he given the authentic "note" or message worth remembering as a Catholic priest who professes to be a substantial, not only verbal, difference from his predecessors.
In Mexico, he has not lived up to his fame as a humble Pope and a priest critical of the powerful, other that with general phrases condeming corruption, pharisees, the culture of death and violence and the temptations of wealth, vanity and pride. But he has not directly addressed the country's concrete problems.
Perhaps the most complete action Francis took was in San Cristóbal de las Casas, where he authorized liturgical ceremonies in indigenous languages and paid a brief and symbolic tribute to the "Red Bishop" Don Samuel Ruiz, condemned and persecuted by the hierarchy, including leading cardinals like Norberto Rivera [Archbishop of Mexico City] who accompanied Bergoglio.
In Ecatepec [State of Mexico, adjacent to Mexico City], he evaded mentioning the subject of femicides and the gender alerts in this region punished by poverty, voracious patronage and organized crime. In Michoacán, not even with the slightest did he condemned the legacy of the discredit of Marcial Maciel and his Legion of Christ [priest exposed as having sexually abused young boys recruited into his organization]. He said much less about the unjust arrest of sel-defense leaders like the doctor José Manuel Mireles, who had the support of various priests.
On the fourth day of his visit, Pope Francis has not met with the victims of clergy sex abuse, nor with the families of the 43 Ayotzinapa students, nor with organizations dedicated to fighting trafficking, nor against the abuse of migrants - two of the themes that concerned him most during his stint as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
As well, he has not even mentioned that, from 2013 to date, 11 Catholic priests have been killed by organized crime, and many Catholic parishes have been plagues by the double violence of corruption and paying protection fees to cartels.
It seems that Pope Francis has chosen not to annoy the government of Enrique Peña Nieto, or the church hierarchy, or business leaders, or the media powers that have converted his visit into an unstoppable telethon that commodifies everything from his image to the "commemorative medal" of the Catholic pontiff.
From the first minutes of his arrival at the Mexico City International Airport, it was clear that Francis would be in the hands of a telepresident and a continuous show organized by first lady Angélica Rivera and her singer friends from Televisa. [She was a soap opera star for Televisa]
Actually, Father Alejandro Solalinde revealed in an interview with Carmen Aristegui on CNN that the Pope had avoided meeting with the families of Ayotzinapa and opted for a private meeting at the Nunciature [Papal diplomatic center where he stayed] with Televisa executives.
Of course, his spokesman Federico Lombardi complained that the media were "pushing" for Francis to address the issue of Ayotzinapa, when every journalist identifies this as the most emblematic and internationally famous case as the worst sign of the human rights crisis in Mexico.
As acolytes desperate for a political-electoral credit, cabinet members, governors, legislators and leaders of all partisan signs, from Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador [head of leftist party, Morena] to Enrique Peña Nieto, have tried to capitalize on the Pope's visit.
In some cases, the most grotesque forms of the typical Mirreynato mexicano [Mexican upperclass that ostentatiously acts like Spanish viceroys] exclusion have appeared: like the traffic in "VIP tickets" for the privileged, the influencers and those with "contacts" for the mass events and access to the Nunciature.
In the Federico Gómez Children's Hospital, which Pope Francis visited Sunday night, the President of the Republic "passed off children of VIPs as cancer patients," according to reports from Víctor Trujillo in his Twitter account @brozoxmiswebs. Of course, no one dared to say anything to First Lady Angelica Rivera, who cried crocodile tears in the same hospital where she intends to donate the "proceeds" from her album of songs for the Pope's visit.
The disappointment of Francis' tour is also reflected in the critical attitude of Mexican parishioners towards the Vatican and the high ecclesiastical hierarchy. Before his arrival, the Parametría survey company conducted a survey in 800 homes on a national scale which sheds very interesting light on the public mood prior to the visit: 65 percent of Mexicans were against covering the expenses of the Pope's visit, 93 percent said they weren't planning to attend any event during the Catholic leader's visit, and only 20 percent said Jorge Bergoglio's visit improved their opinion of the Catholic Church, while 68 percent had not changed their position.
The faithful capital residents did not take to the streets as expected. The Head of Government, Miguel Angel Mancera, chose a flamboyant and clumsy operation, closing roads that chased people away from the streets and the Zocalo. Of course, he took his selfie with the Pope.
In its "Rayuela" ["Hopscotch" section] on Tuesday, Feb. 16, La Jornada prescribed harsh criticism of Pope Francis' agenda: "Francisco had time to receive the heads of Televisa and TV Azteca, but he does not have a second to comfort the parents of the [Ayotzinapa] 43."
As stated by Bergoglio himself, "don't hold talks with the devil, because you have already lost." So far, the Catholic pontiff chose to have talks and negotiate with the Mexican "devils" and comforted the humblest only with generalities and blessings. Spanish original
*Jenaro Villamil Rodríguez is a Mexican journalist and writer specializing in politics and mass media. He completed undergraduate studies in political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He began as a reporter for El Financiero (1989-1994) and was editor of El Financiero Sureste (1994-1996) and Coordinator of Special Affairs for La Jornada. Currently, he is a reporter for Proceso. He is also a contributor to the news portal sinembargo.mx and the magazine Zocalo. Since 2011 he has maintained a blog specializing in communications and telecommunications: homozapping.com.mx. Twitter: @jenarovillamil