Pope ends marathon Americas tour

Indigenous women performed a spiritual cleansing

Pope John Paul II has celebrated a mass for the beatification of two Mexican Indians, concluding a packed tour of the Americas.

The ceremony mixed traditional Catholic elements with influences from the indigenous culture of the two Zapotec Indians, Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Angeles.

Although I go, in my heart I remain

Pope John Paul II

The two were lynched in 1700 after denouncing the pagan activities of their communities to the Catholic authorities. Their beatification is the last step before sainthood.

After the ceremony, crowds gathered to see the Pope leave the Mexican capital to return to Rome, shouting "Don't go! Don't go!".

While the trip has been seen as a success, the 82-old-pontiff - who suffers from Parkinson's disease and arthritis - was visibly frail, again fuelling speculation about his health.

Indigenous followers

One of the highlights of the tour was the canonisation of Mexico's first indigenous saint, Juan Diego, in a ceremony watched by hundreds of thousands.

But the Pope looked extremely tired and struggled to keep his head up. At one point he was apparently asked by an aide if he wanted someone else to read for him.

Juan Diego, an Indian peasant who lived almost 500 years ago, is said to have witnessed an apparition of a dark-skinned Madonna - the Virgin of Guadalupe - who is Mexico's patron saint.

The ceremony included indigenous dancing

In Mexico, the Church has lost millions of followers in recent years to Protestant evangelical groups in the largely indigenous south of Mexico, and Catholics hope the Pope's visit, and Juan Diego's sainthood in particular, will halt that decline.

At Thursday's beatification ceremony, the Pope said the two martyrs "encourage indigenous people today to appreciate their cultures and languages and above all their dignity as children of God".

The Pope underwent an indigenous spiritual cleansing ceremony and the liturgy was celebrated in Zapoteca and other indigenous languages.

Euphoria

Mexicans have a special affection for John Paul II, who went to the country on the first foreign trip of his papacy more than two decades ago.

There was a euphoric atmosphere, which the BBC's correspondent in Mexico City, Nick Miles, said was akin to that at a pop concert.

Mexico was the final leg of an 11-day papal tour of the Americas, that started in Canada and continued in Guadalupe.

As he left, he quoted a popular Mexican song: "Although I go, in my heart I remain".