Pope calls clerics to combat drug trade

Pope Francis is demanding Mexican bishops courageously challenge the "insidious threat" posed by the drug trade, saying the Catholic hierarchy must help Mexicans escape the violence and corruption plaguing their nation and not hide behind their own privilege and careers.

In a hard-hitting speech to a church hierarchy known for its deference to Mexico's wealthy and powerful, Francis told bishops they must be true pastors to their people and not just spew words and inoffensive denunciations like "babbling orphans beside a tomb."

Rather, he said the horrors of drug violence required "prophetic courage" from the church and a pastoral plan that involves families, parishes, schools and communities.

He said that only with such a church-inspired plan "will people finally escape the raging waters that drown so many, either victims of the drug trade or those who stand before God with their hands drenched in blood, though with pockets filled with sordid money and their consciences deadened."