A drug cartel has called on a rival gang to leave Guanajuato state and avoid “generating violence” during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Mexico next month, a government official told Efe on condition of anonymity.

Authorities have found 18 “narcomessages” in recent days in public places, with one of the messages referring to the upcoming papal visit to Guanajuato, which is in central Mexico.

The message addressed to the Nueva Generacion, or Jalisco Nueva Generacion, gang from the Los Caballeros Templarios cartel mentioned the pope’s visit.