Pope calls for end to violence against women
Pope Francis on Saturday urged Latin America’s catholics to fight rampant violence against women, including murder.
“I wish to invite you to combat a plague across our Latin American region: the numerous cases of violent crimes against women, from beatings to rape to murder,” the visiting pontiff told thousands in Trujillo’s main colonial-era square.
Half of the 25 countries with the greatest number of murders of women are in Latin America, according to UN Women.
In Argentina, the pope’s homeland, there were at least 254 murders of women in 2016 that authorities think were gender-related – this sparked the online campaign #NotOneMore murder.
“There are so many cases of violence that stay silenced behind so many walls,” Francis said, raising cheers from the crowd. “I’m calling on you to fight against this source of suffering, including legislation and a culture that rejects every type of violence.”
Trujillo, a city in the northwest, is struggling to rebuild after deadly floods a year ago.
More than 130 people were killed across Peru between January and April in rains, floods and landslides fueled by the El Nino weather phenomenon, which also left at least 300,000 homeless.
Pope Francis said that many still could not rebuild their homes after the floods – then warned of the storms of crime.
The high crime rate means fewer educational and work opportunities, preventing young people “from building a future with dignity”, Francis said.
The mass took place on a beach in Huanchaco, a town 560 kilometres north of Lima.
The pope then visited Trujillo’s impoverished “Buenos Aires” neighborhood, which
was especially hard hit by last April’s flooding.
“We will see if the pope brings along some blessings,” said local resident Lidia Garcia. “We need him to bring some mercy.”
Francis was accompanied by Peru’s president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
The visit is a change of pace after a politically charged first day in the South American country where the pope railed against “great business interests” for endangering the Amazon and its indigenous people. He also lashed out at corruption in politics.
“There is so much damage done by this ... thing that infects everything,” the pope said. “And it’s always the poorest and the environment that get the short end of the stick.”
On Friday, he sounded a stark warning about the future of the rainforest and tribe members, saying they had “never been so threatened”.
Tribesmen, their bodies painted and their heads crowned with feathers, danced and sang for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado.
Thousands of indigenous people had travelled to meet the pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.
Pope Francis, 81, arrived on Thursday afternoon in Peru, the final leg of a week-long South American visit.
During the first part of his visit, in Chile, Francis highlighted the plight of vulnerable immigrants, offered an apology to victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, prayed with survivors of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship, and called for protection of Chile’s persecuted indigenous people.