An overeager crowd in Mexico was chastised by Pope Francis after they pulled him by the sleeves, dragging him forward and almost tripping him over.
“Don’t be so selfish,” the pontiff said to the person who tried to pull him forward.
Pope Francis visited the city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, near the U.S. border. An estimated 200,000 Catholics crossed four bridges from El Paso, Texas, and headed south of the border to see the pope, the Guardian reports.
The northern city is the pope’s last stop on his tour of Mexico, a primarily Catholic country.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection added extra agents and security ahead of the event to prevent anyone from using the extra activity of the papal visit to sneak contraband or people across the border.
His whirlwind five-day visit has focused heavily on the injustices faced by Mexico’s poor and those who are most vulnerable to the country’s drug-fueled violence. He has taken Mexico’s political and religious leaders to task for failing to do good for their people.
Pope Francis makes a point of going to prisons on nearly every foreign trip, part of his longtime ministry to inmates as well as his belief that the lowest in society deserve dignity and hope. Mexico has about 250,000 prisoners, including around 8,000 female inmates.
On Wednesday, Francis told the 700 or so inmates gathered in the prison chapel that they cannot undo the past. But he said they have the possibility of “writing a new story and moving forward.”
He urged the inmates to use their experience in prison for good, to help end the cycle of violence that has torn Mexico apart in recent years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
