MEXICO CITY- He papa Francisco received Mexico’s presidential candidates from the ruling party and the opposition, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, separately at the Vatican, just two weeks before the start of the electoral campaign.
Sheinbaum, former mayor of the Mexican capital, announced on Thursday on her X social network account that she was received by Francisco in his private office in Santa Marta and released some photographs of the meeting.
“It was an exceptional hour that I will never forget, with a simple and warm way that shows his greatness,” said the 61-year-old candidate of the ruling party, reporting on the meeting she had with the Supreme Pontiff for which she showed great admiration for his “humanist thinking.”
Not only Sheinbaum expressed sympathy for the pope, but also the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who despite the differences he has had during his six-year term with the leadership of the Mexican Catholic Church, has always expressed admiration for Francisco. He has identified him as a “true Christian” and the “most important political leader in the world” for being pro-poor.
Mexico is a predominantly Catholic country where the positions of the Mexican Episcopate Conference, an organization that brings together Catholic bishops, have generated controversy.
For her part, Gálvez, candidate of the Fuerza y Corazón por México coalition that integrates the largest opposition parties, reported on Thursday on her X account that this week she had a meeting with Francisco in the Vatican, where her husband was also present.
The former senator, 60, told the local radio station Radio Formula that her meeting with the highest pontiff was last Tuesday, but that the Vatican asked her not to broadcast the images or information of the meeting until Thursday.
The candidate reported that the meeting with the leader of the Catholic Church was very cordial and that they talked about different topics, including football. “He asked me not to get carried away with the song of the sirens,” she added.
In addition to Sheinbaum and Gálvez, in the presidential elections on June 2 he will compete with Jorge Álvarez Máynez, from the minority Citizen Movement party.
In addition to Sheinbaum and Gálvez, in the presidential elections on June 2 he will compete with Jorge Álvarez Máynez, from the minority Citizen Movement party.
Source: AP
