Martinez to attend inaugural for pope

SANTA FE — While New Mexico legislators head home today, Gov. Susana Martinez will be heading out — on a high-profile trip to Vatican City.

The state’s first-term Republican governor will join Vice President Joe Biden as part of a four-member presidential delegation that will travel to Rome for Pope Francis’ inaugural Mass, the White House announced Friday.

After speaking with Biden by telephone on Thursday, Martinez accepted his offer to be a part of the U.S. delegation, her office said Friday.

“It is my honor to represent New Mexico and our nation as a member of the U.S. delegation travelling to Rome for the inaugural Mass for His Holiness Pope Francis,” Martinez said in a statement Friday.

“As a lifelong Roman Catholic, I feel deeply privileged and humbled to have the opportunity to meet the new pope.”

Other members of the official U.S. delegation planning to attend the investiture on Tuesday, are U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Georgetown University President John DeGioia. GOP House Speaker John Boehner reportedly turned down a previous invitation to be a part of the delegation, which will be led by Biden.

Martinez will leave New Mexico today for Washington, D.C., where she will meet up with other delegation members. They will travel together to Rome on Sunday, and Martinez will return to the state March 20, according to the Governor’s Office.

Martinez grew up attending Catholic school in El Paso and said earlier this year she has a “very good” relationship with New Mexico’s Catholic bishops.

However, she has clashed with the state’s bishops on several hot-button political issues, such as her push to repeal the 2003 law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses and a proposal to divert more money from the state’s largest permanent fund to expand early childhood education programs.

In her Friday statement, Martinez, the nation’s first elected Latina governor, mentioned that Pope Francis — who is Argentinian —is the first non-European pontiff in more than a millennium.

Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, was elected pope this week, after the surprising resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

“The Catholic Church plays a vital role in the lives of New Mexicans and more than 1 billion people across the globe,” she said. “I look forward to congratulating His Holiness on behalf of my fellow citizens and celebrating the inauguration of the first pope from the Americas.”

Martinez is not the state’s first chief executive to travel to Rome. Her predecessor, former Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, was honored at a special lighting of the Roman Colosseum in April 2009 for his role in repealing New Mexico’s death penalty.

Meanwhile, a Martinez spokesman said Friday the governor and Biden also spoke about New Mexico’s national laboratories during their Thursday telephone conversation. The two promised to continue the discussion while en route to Rome, spokesman Enrique Knell said.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal