Written by Miles Brown, Staff Writer

Two weeks ago on February 12^th Pope Francis visited Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for 5 days to celebrate mass. The New York Times described his presence “unafraid, and brought with him only smiles and hugs, and words of solace and encouragement.”

He made a stop by a prison and gave encouraging words and messages to the inmates. He encouraged them to better society and turn their wrongdoings into something great. One inmate in the prison made a remark on the Pope’s words of wisdom saying that he wants the inmates to be “prophets” and “work so that this society which uses people and discards them will not go on claiming victims” (New York Times).

Pope Francis has always visited prisons, schools, villages and homes to talk and inspire not only Christian followers to be a better version of themselves but to help change nonbelievers into positive figures in our society.

His trip to Mexico shows how in touch he is with his Lain American culture and how he desperately wants to do something to change the country for the better. These words of encouragement and compassion are different from the words of anger, fear and resentment coming from many religious leaders in the United States.

Many feel as if the illegal immigration problem is getting worse because of the United States/ Mexico border.

“I think he doesn’t understand the problems our country has,” Mr. Trump said after the Pope’s comments last week, showing a depth of ignorance that is his trademark. “I don’t think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico.”

The comments made by Republicans such as Donald Trump do represent a large majority of people in the United States and things such as the ridiculous idea on building a boarder on the U.S and Mexico line paid for by the country Mexico could actually come up into a national scale with Donald Trump running to be the next president.

“A person, who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel,” the Pope told CNN journalist.

This statement speaks volumes about the character of Pope Francis showing just how honest he is when faced with ignorance.

The United States should look to the other country’s to build relationships and connect, not isolate itself and refuse to acknowledge anyone who is not an American Citizen who looks to the U.S as a safe haven.

Furthermore the pope’s ending remarks were that “At times, I felt like weeping to see so much hope in a people who are suffering so much.” This statement served as a reminder that the Pope is human too and wants to see a positive change in Mexico’s future.