Papal Mass Inspires Mexico - NYTimes.com LEÓN, Mexico - Speaking before more than half a million people at an open-air Mass here in a nation wracked by drug violence, Pope Benedict XVI urged the faithful to seek a humble and pure heart and trust in God in the face of "evil and sin as a power, practically implacable and impossible to overcome." Tens of thousands of faithful walked for miles in the sun to attend the Mass in this traditionally conservative, Catholic region, which the pope celebrated beneath a towering statue of Christ the King, an important symbol of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico. Earlier, Pope Benedict was flown by helicopter over the statue to bless it. Maria Concepción Gamiño, 28, from Salamanca not far from the Mass, came to volunteer. She said she suffered from chronic depression and that the pope's visit had lifted her spirits. "My heart beat faster," Ms. Gamiño said. The simple fact of being here changes things. I have a lot of will to keep living. The Mass was billed as a highlight of Benedict's three-day trip to Mexico, a visit the Vatican has said is pastoral in nature but that has been seen widely as shoring up support for the conservative National Action Party of President Félipe Calderón, known as the PAN, ahead of national elections in 14 weeks. Mr. Calderón, who met with Benedict in the picturesque city of Guanajuato here on Saturday, attended Sunday's Mass, as did the candidates for the two other leading political parties. On Monday, Benedict departs for an even more politically charged visit to Cuba. In Mexico, the pope offered a pre-Easter message of hope, urging Mexicans to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most popular shrines to the Virgin Mary in the Catholic world, where, in the 16th century, a newly converted Aztec peasant is said to have seen an image of the Virgin. "At this time, when so many families are separated or forced to emigrate, when so many are suffering due to poverty, corruption, domestic violence, drug trafficking, the crisis of values and increased crime, we come to Mary in search of consolation, strength and hope," Benedict said. Earlier on Sunday, in strong words before Benedict and the crowds, the archbishop of Léon, Msgr. José G. Martín Rábago, said that the violence plaguing Mexico stemmed from "poverty, a lack of opportunities, corruption, impunity, the failure to achieve justice and the cultural change that leads to the conviction that life is only worthwhile if it allows you to acquire goods and power quickly and without heeding its consequences." Since 2006, 50,000 people have died in the Mexican government's war against drug cartels. Before the Mass, the pope flew by helicopter over a towering monument to Christ the King, a statue that commemorates the Catholic uprising between 1926 and 1929, when 90,000 died in battles against an anti-clerical Mexican government that had banned public Masses. Today, the area remains traditionally Catholic and conservative. Benedict told more than half-a-million faithful that his venerable predecessor, John Paul II, had waited to visit the monument but was unable to do so before he died in 2005. "I am sure that in heaven he is happy that the Lord has granted me the grace to be here with you and that he has blessed the millions of Mexicans who have venerated his relics in every corner of the country," Benedict said. Corina Alonso, 33, and her husband Ricardo Murguia, 32, said they had saved about $700 and driven for 14 hours from the Chihuahua State to attend the Mass with their young children. "We didn't have the faith like we did with John Paul II, but, once you get here, you are filled with that emotion," Ms. Alonso said. "John Paul gave off charisma and had an exchange of words with people, but it's still very lovely to see Benedict," Mr. Murguia added. He said that after the Mass, he would take a nap under a tree and drive back home. Karla Zabludovsky contributed reporting from Silao.