The pontiff arrived in Mexico Friday to launch a visit aimed at bridging the gap between rich and poor, navigating the controversies of a deeply divided Mexican society. He will announce a new church strategy for Latin America on Saturday at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The appearance of the brown-skinned apparition of the Virgin to an Aztec peasant in 1531 marked the mass acceptance of Catholicism by Mexico's indigenous people. "She's a Virgin of the poor and for the poor," says Van Biema. "And the pope's embrace of her speaks to the inclusivity of the church." A lot more eloquently than offering his picture inside packets of Mexican Ruffles does.
The Pope, Brought to You by Pepsi
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No one will be more shocked than Pope John Paul II on Friday when he sees Mexico City billboards proclaiming Pepsi an official sponsor of his visit. He may have urged the church earlier this week to remember those "excluded from the everyday banquet of consumption," but corporate sponsorship of his Mexico trip probably wasn't what he had in mind. "The Vatican has framed this trip as an attempt to bridge the gap between Latin America's haves and have-nots," says TIME religion correspondent David Van Biema. "He's going to be dealing with issues like debt forgiveness."