Disputes Prevented Pope Francis from Meeting with Families of Mexico's Missing 43 Latin American Herald Tribune
go to original February 19, 2016

Pope Francis showed Mexicans some serious tough love this week while visiting the country. But was it enough? Fusion's Jorge Ramos recaps the trip and discusses that which was not addressed. (Fusion)

Pope Francis said Thursday that he did not meet with relatives of 43 trainee teachers kidnapped 18 months ago in southern Mexico because he had received multiple requests from different groups, “including ones at odds with one another.”

The Argentine pontiff made the remarks to international media, including EFE, while flying back to Rome from the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, the last stop of his five-day visit to Mexico.

“There were a lot of groups, including ones at odds with one another and with some internal struggles,” Francis said, adding that “I told them I would see all of them at one of the Masses.”

He also said that during his visit to Mexico he made “constant reference to the killings, the lives claimed by gangs of drug traffickers and people traffickers, to the violence as one of the wounds Mexico has suffered.”

The parents of the 43 abducted trainee teachers, however, denied Thursday that they had any problems with other associations of families of missing persons.

“We categorically deny that there is any conflict with the others. On the contrary, they have shown a lot of solidarity with us,” the attorney representing the families, Vidulfo Rosales, told EFE.

Read the rest at Latin American Herald Tribune

Related: Parents of Disappeared Ayotzinapa Students Say Government Blocked Way to Pope (Mexico Voices)

Related: Forensic Investigators Probing Death of Ayotzinapa 43 Say Gov’t Won’t Discuss ‘Irregularities’ in Findings (Buenos Aires Herald)

Related: Apaches to Pope Francis: Recognize the History of Genocide (Indian Country Today)

Related: Being Human: Pope Francis Delights Many, Frustrates Some (Catholic News Service )

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