Injustices have been piling up and have prompted questions about whether the church is under attack.

His presence was a message to the indigenous communities here: Pope Francis has heard of your suffering and he has said, “Enough.”

Millions of Mexicans descend annually on the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially for the feast day Dec. 12, with many making pilgrimages on bike or arriving on foot from the surrounding states. The devotion shows few signs of fading while growth in the United States, through immigrant communities, is strong.

Mike Davis is a lively and gifted writer of the left with the flair—even if often polemical—of a born journalist.