The devil is punishing Mexico with criminal violence, Pope Francis said, just a few weeks after the Mexican government complained that the Pontiff had stigmatized the country as a breeding ground for gangland chaos.
A remark by Pope Francis to the effect that he hoped his homeland Argentina could avoid "Mexicanization" was not intended to offend Mexicans or to undervalue the government's efforts to fight drug trafficking, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Pope Francis expressed deep sadness at the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, departing from the script of an address on Monday to emphasise the unity of all Christians regardless of the denomination they follow.
Egyptian jets bombed Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, a day after the group there released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, drawing Cairo directly into the conflict across its border.
