(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 02.15.2024).- One hour was the duration of the private audience of Pope Francis with Claudia Sheinbaum, a candidate for the presidency of Mexico, on the afternoon of Thursday, February 15, 2024. The meeting took place at the Pope’s personal residence, Casa Santa Marta, within the Vatican City.
Two days earlier, on Tuesday, February 13, the other contender for the presidency of Mexico, Xóchitl Gálvez, was also received by the Pope in the same place as Sheinbaum. Gálvez’s silence was broken on the Roman afternoon of Thursday, February 15, following Sheinbaum’s visit: “I met in the Vatican with His Holiness to whom I reaffirmed my faith in God and the Catholic Church,” she said. Regarding the tone and content of the meeting, she revealed: “We had a cordial dialogue and exchanged views on the culture of discard, which involves the marginalization of everything that does not produce, as well as on various crises facing humanity. He wished me the best of luck. For me and my family, it was a very emotional experience since we have had deep Catholic convictions for many generations.”
“I need the Pope to bless Mexico in these very difficult times where violence, insecurity are becoming a very complicated situation,” Gálvez declared. And before her entrance, on Tuesday, February 13, she stated: “I believe in Divine Providence. She made the miracle, and I am sure that the Pope will bless all of Mexico.”
For her part, Claudia Sheinbaum commented that “It was an exceptional hour that I will never forget, with a simple and warm manner that shows his greatness.” The representative of the Morena party said she had brought “beautiful pieces from the Wixárika people” as a gift. And, about the Pope, she added: “In addition to being the highest representative of the Catholic Church, the religion of the vast majority of my people, I have a deep admiration for his humanistic thinking. He gave me great life advice.”
In neither of the two cases, the audiences would have been arranged by the Mexican embassy to the Holy See but through private contacts. In fact, Sheinbaum expressed her gratitude to those who made the arrangements to make the meeting possible: “I want to express my gratitude to Hector and Mauricio Sulaimán, dear friends, and to Adrian Pallarols, a recent friend, for the enormous opportunity they gave me today to meet one of the greatest global leaders and thinkers of recent times.” Mauricio Sulaimán is the president of the World Boxing Council. Adrian Pallarols is the personal silversmith of the Pope and an honorary member of the World Boxing Council.
Claudia Sheinbaum also said, “Those who have listened to me know that in many of my speeches I repeat a phrase from Pope Francis that says, ‘The only lawful way to look down on someone is when you extend your hand to help them up.’ It is one of the deepest and most beautiful lines about fraternity and equality that I have heard.” That quote from the Pope was said by the Pontiff at the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon.
The Press Office has not issued any statement about the meeting as the practice is that privately-personal encounters are not communication matters.
Así fue mi visita al Vaticano para encontrarme con Su Santidad @Pontifex_es. pic.twitter.com/oZI9iJ0jWc
— Xóchitl Gálvez Ruiz (@XochitlGalvez) February 15, 2024
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