Families of missing 43 denied meeting with Francis

A request for Pope Francis to meet the family and friends of 43 students who went missing in 2014 has been rejected by the Archdiocese of Mexico City.

The Bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Salvador Rangel, said he had suggested the Pope should visit the town of Iguala, where the students went missing but that the archdiocese had judged it “inappropriate because it could lead to unrest”.

The archdiocese is overseeing the five-day papal visit due to begin yesterday. Bishop Rangel explained to the news site SDP Noticias that the behaviour of students from the teaching college where the 43 had been enrolled, was sometimes regarded as uncivilised.

“Instead of it being a positive meeting in which the young people would be listened to, the encounter could become a kind of political gathering and there might be a lack of respect for the Pope,” said the bishop.

The 43 male students went missing in the state of Guerrero as they travelled to a demonstration over government funding. The disappearances caused a huge scandal and more than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the case.

An official investigation concluded the students had been arrested by corrupt police and handed to a local crime syndicate that murdered them and incinerated the bodies. Only two bodies have so far been identified.

The bishop said violence generates violence, adding: “We have to change the hearts of the people and this is a task for parents, teachers, churches and the Government. We have to start with the youngest, in the schools.
Increased military force, more police, improved intelligence, all of it is pointless if we can’t change people’s hearts.”