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Mexican president says he will thank Virgin of Guadalupe for allowing him to govern


ASSOCIATED PRESS

12:02 p.m. September 25, 2006

MEXICO CITY – President Vicente Fox, a staunch Roman Catholic, said Monday he would go to Mexico City's basilica to thank the Virgin of Guadalupe for allowing him to govern the country for six years.
Fox, who has sparked widespread criticism in the past for using religious symbols and publicly advocating his faith, said he would go to the Basilica of Guadalupe on Nov. 30 at 10 p.m. “to thank the Virgin of Guadalupe for giving me the opportunity to serve a country so marvelous, so full of values.”

Fox, who made his comments during a visit to his home state of Guanajuato, went to the basilica on Dec. 1, 2000, the day he took office, to ask for the virgin's help in his upcoming term.

Fox also was criticized for kissing the ring of the late Pope John Paul II during the pontiff's visit to Mexico in 2002.

Mexico has harsh laws separating church and state. The Roman Catholic Church held a government-enforced monopoly of faith for three centuries but church power was curbed by a series of liberal reform laws in the mid-1800s. Clerics challenged the government in an armed revolt in the 1920s, after which the authorities passed harsh anti-clerical laws and repressed religion.

Mexico re-established relations with the Vatican only in 1992.