Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Pope Francis' death was a "painful loss" for Mexicans.
"He was a humanist, a man who was always close to poor, to the most humble people," she said.
Francis was the first pope from Latin America, and he took special interest in the region. He visited Mexico in 2016. In the southern state of Chiapas, he asked forgiveness for the Catholic Church's role in dispossessing and marginalizing the indigenous population.
"Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior," he said in San Cristóbal de las Casas. "Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have stolen your lands or contaminated them. How sad this is. It would be worthwhile for each of us to examine our conscience and learn to say, 'Forgive me.' "
In Mexico City, he pleaded with the political class to create a country in which Mexicans had the opportunity to be"dignified actors of their own destiny."
The archbishop of Mexico City, Carlos Aguiar Retes, called a special Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and bells of all parishes across the country will ring at 3 p.m. ET.
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