Francis celebrated Mexico's Indians during a visit to the southern state of Chiapas, a centre of indigenous culture. He presided over a Mass in three native languages approved for use recently by the Vatican in a service that also featured a traditional dance of prayer and other indigenous elements.
In his homily, history's first Latin American pope melded two of his core concerns: appreciation for indigenous cultures and the need to care for the environment.
"In this regard, you have much to teach us," he told the crowd of several thousand indigenous, some in traditional dress, who gathered under clear blue skies at a sports complex in the mountain city of San Cristobal de las Casas.
The soft sounds of marimbas accompanied the Mass, which was celebrated in front of a replica of the brilliant yellow and red facade of the San Cristobal cathedral, where Francis was visiting later in the day.
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Francis issued a sweeping apology last year for the Catholic Church's colonial-era crimes against America's indigenous. He revisited the issue again today, denouncing how, "in a systematic and organised way," indigenous have been misunderstood and excluded from society over the course of history.
"Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior," he said. "Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them."
"Today's world, ravaged as it is by a throwaway culture, needs you!"
The pope has frequently expressed admiration for indigenous peoples, particularly their sense of custodianship of the environment. As archbishop in Argentina, he was heavily responsible for a major document of the entire Latin American church hierarchy in which bishops praised the harmonious way indigenous people live with nature. As pope he penned an environmental encyclical denouncing the exploitation of the planet by the rich at the expense of the poor.