Mexico’s interior minister to attend pope’s funeral in Rome on Saturday

A day after Mexico’s government joined global leaders in mourning the death of Pope Francis, President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated that the pontiff’s legacy would be his enduring message and belief in “love of your neighbor.” 

Sheinbaum also announced that Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez would travel to Rome to represent Mexico at the pope’s funeral on Saturday. 

In a brief elegy, Sheinbaum described Francis as a humanist who sided with the meek and the poor, while promoting peace and equality. “For Catholics and even those who aren’t, this is a painful loss,” she said. “It was an honor and a privilege to have met him.”

Rodríguez, in a statement posted on X, lauded Francis’ propensity to use his words to promote world peace. 

“It is with deep sorrow that we bid farewell … to the first Latin American pontiff, His Holiness Francis … leader of the #IglesiaCatólica since 2013, who always stood on the side of the poor and of justice.”

Other cabinet officials joined in lamenting the pope’s death.

In a social media post, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Pope Francis “was very kind to Mexico, we will always remember him with gratitude and appreciation.”

After announcing the news of the pope’s death, the Mexican Episcopal Conference, an organization of Catholic bishops, expressed profound gratitude for the gift of life and faith that Francis shared with Mexico.

On Monday, Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral marked the pope’s death with a funeral tolling of its largest bell, the 29,000-pound Santa María de Guadalupe bell.

A portrait of Pope Francis inside Mexico's City's cathedral
Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral joined the nation in honoring the late Pope Francis on Monday. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)

The death of the 88-year-old pontiff on Monday saddened Mexicans from all walks of life. Mexico is home to more than 90 million Catholics, second only to Brazil’s 123 million. 

Pope Francis made a five-day visit to Mexico in February 2016, including the first-ever papal visit to the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso border area.

With reports from El Universal, Milenio and Infobae

The post Mexico’s interior minister to attend pope’s funeral in Rome on Saturday appeared first on Mexico News Daily



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

International Women’s Day 2025: The marches happening in Mexico on March 8

Image
Hundreds of thousands of women are expected to flood streets across Mexico on Saturday for International Women’s Day, demanding gender equality and an end to violence against women. In Mexico City, the 8M march, held annually on March 8, will begin at multiple points, including the Monument to the Revolution and the Fuente de la Diana Cazadora (Diana the Huntress Fountain). March 8 has become a symbol of resistance and protest for women in a culture where they are often victimized. (Ángel Hernández/Cuartoscuro) Leaving at various times between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., the contingents — organized by various feminist collectives — are set to converge around 2 p.m., creating a sea of purple-and-green-clad protesters advancing toward the city’s Zócalo. Last year’s march in Mexico City had more than 180,000 participants — double the 2023 total — according to Pablo Vázquez Camacho, the minister of public security for Mexico City. Though attendance figures for public events can vary gre...
Read more

Would Sheinbaum have a better relationship with Harris than Trump? Mexicans weigh in

Image
A majority of Mexicans believe that President Claudia Sheinbaum would have a better relationship with Kamala Harris as president of the United States than with Donald Trump. That is one of the findings of a poll of 1,000 Mexican adults conducted by the newspaper El Financiero in October. A majority of Mexicans believe that President Claudia Sheinbaum would have a better relationship with Kamala Harris as president of the United States than with Donald Trump. (Screen capture) The poll also found that more than four in ten respondents believe that Vice President Harris will win Tuesday’s presidential election, while around one-quarter think that former president Trump will prevail. Here is a summary of the poll results, published by El Financiero on Tuesday. Most Mexicans think Sheinbaum would have a better relationship with Harris Of the 1,000 people polled, 52% said that Sheinbaum — Mexico’s first female president — would have a better relationship with Harris as U.S. president...
Read more

What will a second Donald Trump term mean for Mexico?

Image
Migrants. Drugs. Imports that pose a threat to the viability of industries in the United States. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would like to stop them all from entering the U.S. from Mexico. President Claudia Sheinbaum will soon be Mexico’s third president who needs to build a useful relationship with Donald Trump. (Rogelio Morales Ponce/Cuartoscuro) The lengths to which he is willing to go to get what he wants could significantly define Mexico’s relationship with the United States during the four years of the second Trump presidency. Trump’s stated plans to carry out “ the largest deportation operation in American history ” and renegotiate the USMCA free trade pact are also likely to have a profound impact on Mexico if they come to fruition. Claudia Sheinbaum, sworn in as Mexico’s first female president five weeks ago, will become the third Mexican president to deal with soon-to-be President Trump, who is well-known for his unpredictability. Sheinbaum’s capacity, and that...
Read more