Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman, issued a statement on Nov. 4 about the investigations involving the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See. The office, known by its Italian acronym APSA, handles the Vatican's investment portfolio and its real estate holdings.

"The trend is like a mix of religion and politics," Cardinal Charles Bo said, raising fresh questions about the country's future at a crucial point on Myanmar's journey from military dictatorship to a functioning democracy.

"We cannot ignore that we are co-responsible for all around the world," Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga said. "We cannot be closed down in our own borders and looking only to our own places because all of us are citizens of the same earth and all of us have a common home."

But bishops worry ongoing political strife and ethnic incitement could blight the visit.

The "financial precariousness of most students should not be an obstacle to accessing education," said the national executive of the South African Council of Churches, of which the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference is a member.

Pope Francis is expected to stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the world's most visited Marian shrine. States mentioned for visits include Michoacan to the west of Mexico City, where outward migration has been strong for generations.