Vatican: Pope did not intend to hurt Mexicans' feelings

Pope Francis "absolutely did not intend to hurt the feelings of the Mexican people" by referring to the "Mexicanization" of his native Argentina from drug trafficking, the Vatican said Wednesday.

Mexico formally complained after the pontiff made the reference in an e-mail to an Argentine friend involved in combating the drug trade. That friend made the message public.

Argentine human rights group La Alameda, which published the e-mail, quoted it as saying to its head Gustavo Vera: "Hopefully we're in time to avoid the Mexicanization. I was talking to some Mexican bishops and it's a terrible situation."

On Tuesday, Mexico's foreign ministry sent a note to the Holy See expressing "sadness and concern" at comments which "stigmatized" the country, the AFP news agency reported.

In a statement Wednesday, the Vatican said the pope's words were contained in a personal e-mail and that he had merely repeated a phrase that his friend had used.

Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See press office, said: "The note shows clearly that the Pope intended nothing else but to comment on the gravity of the phenomenon of drug trafficking afflicting Mexico and other Latin American countries."

Contributing: Associated Press