Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantu to represent U.S. during Pope’s visit

Las Cruces Bishop Oscar Cantu is preparing to accompany Pope Francis during his visit to Mexico February 12 -17.

Cantu is one of two bishops chosen to represent the U.S. during the historic trip.

He and Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas received the appointment from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s President Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz.

Bishop Cant, 49, has headed the Las Cruces Diocese since 2013.

ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom sat down for an interview with Bishop Cantu on Wednesday .

Cantu says being so close to the border, he anticipates Pope Francis will touch on immigration.

“He insisted on celebrating mass right at the border in Ciudad Juarez even though there was another site that would have accommodated more people,” Cantu said. “So he definitely wants to make some statements.”

Cantu says while he understands some may not want the catholic church to be involved in political issues, he says the church has a right to voice an opinion.

“We hold to the right of a sovereign nation to control its borders but it should be done in a way that’s humane,” Cantu said.

While not everyone will get to see Pope Francis in person, Cantu hopes they’ll take away a simple message from him.

“I think primarily is that the pope cares about us,” Cantu said.

Cantu said short notice on tickets, and a hectic schedule the past couple of months is why the Las Cruces Diocese hasn’t been as involved with preparations for the pope’s visit. He said that while the diocese was offered tickets and kept pushing for them, they never heard back until just last week