IN human and logistical terms alone,the pope’s visit to Latin America this week involves a punishing itinerary. Over six days, a man in his 82nd year, and with only one intact lung,will travel over 22000 miles, spanning the length and breadth of a continent, or including some of its remote extremes. Some people will be gratefully amazed to see him and savour his charisma; others will greet him in a spirit of intense infuriate over the institution he leads.
Although he is returning to his domestic region,the journey by Pope Francis to Chile and Peru will be among the most challenging trips he has undertaken. In keeping with his style, he will reach out to people who never expected to meet a global champion of faith: women prisoners in Chile, and indigenous people with land grievances in the Chilean south and in the Amazon rainforest.
But he will also be dogged by accusations that by protecting abusers,or taking action at a snail’s pace, the Vatican has failed those for whom it was directly responsible. Both Chile and Peru have experienced...
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Source: economist.com