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Mónica Ortiz Uribe

Ambrosio Leyva (right) and his family pose with a cardboard image of Pope Francis in downtown Juárez.

Mónica Ortiz Uribe

Citizens of Ciudad Juárez are writing messages to Pope Francis in a book that the city will gift him during his February visit to Mexico. The book is available for the public to sign downtown.

Pope Francis confirmed his visit to the Mexican border city of Juárez to reporters on Wednesday during a papal flight to Kenya. 

Later that day along a new pedestrian walkway in downtown Juárez people were taking selfies with a cardboard image of Pope Francis. Next to it, the city set up a tunnel-shaped booth where passersby could stop and sign a giant book filled with messages to the pontiff.  

Ambrosio Leyva of Las Vegas, Nev., is in Juárez visiting relatives. He and his family decided to write a message in the book, which has been signed by 2,000 people in the past week.

"I think Juárez needs a little more love," Leyva said. "The whole world needs it, the peace, the love."

In his message Leyva said he thanked the pope for including Juárez in his Mexico trip, scheduled for mid-February, and also thanked him for his attention to the poor. 

Juárez is recovering from a period of brutal drug violence that began in 2008. Pope Francis had expressed interest in visiting Juárez to call attention to plight of migrants who pass through Mexican border cities on their way to the United States.