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Inmates work on the construction of a chapel inside the state prison in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. On Feb. 17, Pope Francis will visit the prison and the chapel. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__2_]()
Two workers take a break on the banks of the Rio Grande, next to the site where Pope Francis will give Mass on Feb. 17 in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. On the other side, in U.S. soil, a backhoe works at cleaning mud and silt out of the Rio Bravo. On this site, Pope Francis is expected to say Mass for about a quarter-million people, with thousands more expected to watch from the other side of the Rio Grande. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__8_]()
A detention center identification card lies on a cross inside a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. People recently deported from the U.S. seek refuge in this shelter and leave behind their detention center bracelets and Department of Homeland Security baggage check tags hanging on religious figures. One such recent deportee, Monserrat Munoz who was deported from the U.S. after walking days through the desert several weeks ago while trying to get to Canada, says the situation is so tough for migrants nowadays that "there is a better chance of dying than of making it through." (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__3_]()
Antonia Hinojosa speaks to the Associated Press outside of her protest camp in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. Hinojosa, a mother of two, who is one of about a dozen workers in a protest encampment outside the gates of an Eaton Industries plant on the outskirts of Juarez, is demanding better wages and more vacation time. Freed of the worst of the violence, Ciudad Juarez has settled back in to the more common, but more stubborn problems facing Mexicos booming border cities: deep social inequality and waves of migrants coming north from Central America or deported south from the United States. But, Hinojosa warns, If you really want to eliminate violence, you have to provide decent-paid jobs. The violence is going to continue as long as there are low-paid jobs". (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__10_]()
Dozens of migrant detention center bracelets hang from the arm of the statue of Saint Judas Thaddaeus inside a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. People recently deported from the U.S. seek refuge in this shelter and leave behind their detention center bracelets and Department of Homeland Security baggage check tags next to this Saint but also next to a cross and an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__13_]()
Inmates work on the construction of the bell tower of a prison chapel inside the state prison in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. On Feb. 17, Pope Francis will visit this prison and meet with inmates. Some see Pope Francis visit to Ciudad Juarez as the capstone in the citys transformation from one of the most violent places on earth; others hope the Pope will draw attention to the problems that remain in the bustling border metropolis. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__6_]()
Photos of missing women are pasted in window inside a memorial park erected on the spot where eight women were found murdered and dumped in a cotton field in 2001 in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. This city, which at one point was considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world is now preparing for a visit from Pope Francis next month. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__17_]()
Late afternoon light falls on a giant billboard with an image of Pope Francis and a message saying "Juarez is Love, We Are Ready" in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. Once considered one of the most violent cities in the world, has greatly improved and the violence mostly subsided, Ciudad Juarez has settled back in to the more common, but more stubborn problems facing Mexico's booming border cities: deep social inequality, poor wages and waves of migrants, either arriving from Central America or deported from the United States. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__9_]()
An inmate lays a concrete floor leading to a a prison chapel inside the state prison in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. In a prison where inmates from warring gangs once wielded total control, shooting it out and knifing each other inside prison walls, selling drugs and locking themselves inside prison blocks to which only they had the keys, the atmosphere has calmed. Today, masked guards with 12-gauge shotguns patrol the yard but the prison is relatively calm, so much so that on Feb. 17, Pope Francis will be able to enter and speak to more than 2 thousand persons inside the prison. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__12_]()
Rosaries and migrant detention center bracelets hang from a Saint Judas Thaddaeus statue inside a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. People recently deported from the U.S. seek refuge in this shelter and leave behind their detention center bracelets and Department of Homeland Security baggage check tags next to this Saint but also next to a cross and an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__15_]()
Monserrat Munoz, who was recently deported from the U.S., speaks to the Associated Press at a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. Munoz was deported from the U.S. after walking days through the desert several weeks ago, says the situation is so tough for migrants nowadays that "there is a better chance of dying than of making it through." Now staying at a church-run migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Munoz said he hopes the Pope pronounces a pro-migrant message on the banks of the Rio Grande, adding "I hope that message get through to the governors of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, where migrants are most being abused." (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__14_]()
Dozens of migrant detention center bracelets hang from a cross inside a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. People recently deported from the U.S. seek refuge in this shelter and leave behind their detention center bracelets and Department of Homeland Security baggage check tags hanging on religious figures. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__4_]()
An inmate studies at the library inside the state prison in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. In a prison where inmates from warring gangs once wielded total control, shooting it out and knifing each other inside prison walls, selling drugs and locking themselves inside prison blocks to which only they had the keys, the atmosphere has calmed.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__18_]()
An inmate carries bricks as he works on the construction of a prison chapel inside the state prison in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. On Feb. 17, Pope Francis will be making an unusual visit to a prison that was once a center and symbol of gang power. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)![Mexico_Pope_Prison_Vros__5_]()
Faded pink crosses stand on the grounds of a memorial park erected on the spot where eight women were found murdered and dumped in a cotton field in 2001 in Ciudad Juarez, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016. The city, as a whole is still struggling to come to terms with its thousands of dead, most fallen in drug wars, others, especially poor female factory workers who seemingly vanished, only to turn up dead long afterward. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)Pope Francis to visit prison in once-infernal Mexico border city
Some see the pontiff's visit to Ciudad Juarez as a capstone on the city's transformation from one of the most violent places on earth; others hope Pope Francis will draw attention to the problems that remain in the bustling metropolis.
Move Forward
- Pope Francis to visit prison in once-infernal Mexico border city
