Don’t be hit men, Pope tells Mexican youth

MORELIA, Mexico (Reuters) – Saying Jesus would never ask them to be “hit men”, Pope Francis begged young people in Mexico’s gang-infested heartland on Tuesday to shun the lure of easy money and big cars offered by drug traffickers.

Gang wars over the methamphetamine trade have torn the western state of Michoacan apart. Widespread kidnapping and extortion by gangs have sparked an uprising by vigilante groups.

“It is a lie to believe that the only way to live, or to be young, is to entrust one’s self to drug dealers or others who do nothing but sow destruction and death,” he told young people at a stadium rally in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan.

“Jesus would never ask us to be hit men,” the pope said. “He would never send us out to death.”

More than 100,000 people have been killed in Mexico’s drug war over the last decade as rival gangs fight over territory and smuggling routes to the United States.

Francis, the first Latin American pope, is travelling to some of the poorest and most violent corners of Mexico on a six-day trip to bring a message of hope to millions of marginalized people.

While appealing to the young to shun a life where fleeting happiness is found in easy money, fast cars and brand-name clothes, Francis also took a swipe on Tuesday at Mexican authorities for failing to provide opportunities for the young.

“It is hard to feel the wealth of a nation when there are no opportunities for dignified work, no possibilities for study or advancement, when you feel your rights are being trampled on, which then leads you to extreme situations,” the Pope told them.