Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City said that Pope Benedict’s slated visit to Mexico will encourage values such as respect for life to help quell the violence that has swept across the nation.
“To strengthen us in the fundamental values, that is the Pope’s task, and I think he is coming to Mexico expressly to do this at a time when we really need it,” the cardinal said in a Nov. 28 interview with Impacto TV.
Cardinal Rivera noted that these values are not confined to one religion or another and stressed the need “for each and every one of us to do our part so that Mexico will change.”
Otherwise “Mexico will become a very difficult place to live in and people will continue running away to other countries, despite this beautiful country of ours.”
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to visit both Mexico and Cuba in the spring of 2012 in his first papal visit to the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America.
Cardinal Rivera noted during his interview that violence in Mexico did not crop up overnight but has slowly spread due to the breakdown of values at home.
He called on families and people of all faiths to devote themselves to “spreading these values: the social fabric is coming undone and we need to strengthen it with truly authentic values that make human coexistence possible.”
The cardinal also said that religious education has an important role to play in this area and should be available in both private and public schools. People who lack financial resources should not be deprived of this kind of formation, he said.
Cardinal Rivera also called on Mexican leaders to work to bring about peace in the country by carrying out the duties for which they were elected.