Mexican pilgrims hopeful for blessing on eve of pope's visit

The Associated Press

HUEYTLALPAN, Mexico -- Hundreds of Roman Catholic bishops from throughout the Americas joined thousands of faithful Thursday in converging on Mexico City -- all to welcome Pope John Paul II on his visit to this passionately devout nation.

Among them were several dozen Totonaco Indians from the mountains of Mexico's Sierra Norte, preparing for a rough, six-hour pilgrimage over treacherous roads for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the pope, who arrives today. Tickets to the pope's appearances this weekend are scarce, with each parish receiving between a handful and 100, so the Totonacos who were chosen to go considered themselves blessed already. "May the pope help me to support my family," said Susana Tirzo Tirzo, 21, selected along with 800,000 others across the continent to see John Paul celebrate a Sunday Mass at a Mexico City racetrack. Bus drivers refuse to take the crumbling, cliff-hanging dirt road to the mile-high village in Mexico's towering Sierra Norte, so the pilgrims will pile into trucks to reach the nearest highway, four miles away. "I want to thank God for allowing me to see (the pope) in person," said Tirzo Tirzo, one of 120 young Totonacos from Hueytlalpan and surrounding highland villages who will make the trip to the capital Saturday. Mexicans feel a special closeness to the pope because of his devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose image adorns everything from construction sites to government offices to the adobe and concrete homes that line the streets of Hueytlalpan (pronounced way- TLAHL-pahn) in central Puebla state. The pope visits the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Saturday to announce a new church strategy for the Americas. He will pray in front of the image of the Virgin Mary, whose storied appearance to an Aztec peasant in 1531 turned millions of polytheist Indians into Roman Catholics. On Sunday, the pope will hold the largest gathering of his trip, celebrating Mass at the racetrack. He presides over a meeting "with all the generations of the century" at Azteca Stadium on Monday before departing Tuesday for St. Louis and a meeting with President Clinton. As many as 500 bishops were heading to Mexico City for the pope's visit, which he says he is paying to the American continent as much as to Mexico. On Thursday, bishops from Argentina and the Vatican gazed at Diego Rivera's murals in Mexico City's historic center. Millions of faithful are expected to line Mexico City's streets to catch a glimpse of "El Papa" on the fourth visit of his 20-year papacy to Mexico. Many planned their own private pilgrimages. More than anything, residents of Hueytlalpan said they hoped for inspiration, maybe even a blessing, from John Paul. "There are many people here who have no work, no income," said Lorenzo Gonzalez Munoz, 58, a field hand. "May the pope bless us." "I'm curious. I've always wanted to see him," said Tirzo's cousin, Gisela Tirzo Tirzo, 17, displaying a homemade Guadalupe shrine of portraits of the virgin, red and green ribbons and a teddy bear. Residents earn a hard scrabble living off coffee, cattle, plantain, mangoes and other crops. They blend Roman Catholicism with Totonaco traditions, celebrating Mass in Spanish and singing church songs in both Spanish and Totonac. Piles of corn husks and coffee beans filled the corners of the chilly living room. "In this home we are Catholics," proclaimed a sign on the wall, alongside a calendar featuring the late Texan pop star Selena.

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