Pope to Visit Southern US Border?

As the crisis of thousands of young people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border continues, Pope Francis is considering visiting that frontier, various media are reporting.

The Pope earlier this month accepted an invitation to visit Mexico from its president, Enrique Pena-Nieto.

Now, the Mexican news agency Notimex said Pope Francis has consulted with people he trusts about possible destinations in northern Mexico. Fox News Latino said the Pontiff would like to see for himself “the dramatic reality of illegal migration,” and has expressed concern for the 47,000 children who remain in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol in dozens of facilities around the United States.

The young people have been pouring in, unaccompanied, coming from countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico.

But any visit the Pope makes likely will not take place this year. According to the Italian wire service ANSA, there is speculation that the Pope would include Mexico and the border area in his visit to the United States scheduled for September of 2015.