January 15, 1999
By Niko Price
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MEXICO CITY - Pope John Paul II is expected to discuss human rights and racism during a visit to Mexico next week, but is also likely to touch on the sensitive subject of the uprising in Chiapas, Roman Catholic church officials said Tuesday.
Although the Pope will visit only Mexico City and St. Louis during his Jan. 22-27 trip, church officials said his mission is continent-wide because the main purpose is to sign a document drafted during a 1997 meeting of bishops from across the Americas.
But some church officials said John Paul wouldn't be able to avoid speaking out on Mexico's troubles, such as the simmering uprising in the southern state of Chiapas, whose guerrillas have found sympathy among some religious leaders for their fight against the oppression of poor Indians.
``It's obvious that Chiapas has taken on not only a national, but also an international dimension,'' Monsignor Avelardo Alvarado, secretary-general of the Mexican Episcopal Conference, said at a news conference. ``Even if he doesn't mention it by name, it will be implicit.''
``I want to think that the Holy Father will talk about the conflicts in the Americas, about human rights, about justice and peace, about priority attention to indigenous and African-American people and of course within all that goes the situation in Chia-pas,'' he added later in comments to The Associated Press.
But other church officials said the pope would take pains to avoid condemning any government or any group.
``The pope is not a judicial authority in any country of the world,'' Papal Nuncio Justo Mullor said sternly. ``The pope is not coming to bring you an encyclopedia in which he talks about the problems each of you have.''
During his visit to Mexico - his fourth - John Paul will make appearances at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, at a racetrack and at a soccer stadium. He also will meet with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and Mexico City Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas and visit a hospital.
Nearly 1 million people are expected to attend the three public events, and millions more are expected to line the streets to catch a glimpse of the passing popemobile or to watch the events on giant-screen televisions being erected around Mexico.
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