Pope takes on Mexico leaders on drugs

Pope Francis admonished Mexico's political and religious leaders to take on drug violence on Saturday, calling for "true justice" and "prophetic courage" against the scourge afflicting the country.

The Argentine-born pontiff used his visit to the National Palace and the capital's cathedral to send tough messages to the country's elite on the first full day of a cross-country tour of some of Mexico's hotspots.

"Experience teaches us that each time we seek the path of privileges or benefits for a few to the detriment of the good of all ... society becomes a fertile soil for corruption, drug trade, exclusion of different cultures, violence and also human trafficking, kidnapping and death," he said.

It was the kind of message that many ordinary Mexicans, fed up with a decade of drug violence that has left more than 100,000 dead or missing, were hoping for.

Mexico was reminded of its troubles on the eve of the pope's arrival, when 49 inmates were killed in a prison brawl between rival groups in the north of the country.

Thousands of Catholic faithful who stood outside the National Palace in the historic Zocalo square broke into cheers at the Argentine pontiff's words.

"Bravo! How great that he tells the government the truth," one woman shouted.

"The pope put the government to shame with everything that he said. Let's see if Pena Nieto does the right thing," said Ramiro Sosa, a 56-year-old shopkeeper from the crime-ridden eastern state of Veracruz.