Pope Francis to visit Mexico City and three states in 2016

Pope Francis will visit the Mexican capital and three states early next year, Mexico's foreign relations secretary announced Wednesday.

Claudia Ruiz Massieu said Pope Francis will visit Mexico City, Chiapas, Chihuahua and Michoacan, the latter three locales that present opportunities for the pontiff to touch on issues he has emphasized, such as poverty, migration and support for indigenous communities.

Chiapas, on Mexico's southern border with Guatemala, is one of Mexico's poorest states, heavily indigenous and a key migratory corridor for Central Americans traveling north to the United States. It has also seen rising rates of conversions to . . .