EL PASO, Texas - The supposed political hues of Pope Francis' visit to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, recently raised by a U.S. presidential candidate and media coverage of those remarks came up during a news conference with Catholic officials in El Paso today.

EL PASO, Texas - Two days before Pope Francis' main event in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the Diocese of El Paso was coordinating the final touches to its own two main papal events.

CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - Esteban Alanis, 23, once ran with a local gang known as “Los Parqueros,” which would accost people for their cash and cellphones in a working-class neighbourhood of southeast Ciudad Juarez. He called the crimes “easy money,” while gang activities offered a sense of belonging and an adolescence of parties, girls and underage drinking.

MEXICO CITY - Pope Francis is exploring the possibility of visiting the previously problematic border city of Ciudad Juarez, where a battle between drug cartels during the past decade cost more than 10,000 lives in a four-year period.