A huge crowd of 1.5 million Catholics greeted Pope Francis on Brazil’s Copacabana beach after the pontiff toured a notorious Rio slum to defend the cause of the poor.
Latin America’s first pope was confronted with starkly contrasting images of life in the tropical metropolis on the fourth day of his visit to Brazil, from its ritzy seafront to its impoverished hillside favelas.
A teeming swathe of young Catholics joined dancers swaying to samba beats on Copacabana for World Youth Day, braving cold rain and wind to cheer the Argentine-born pope who has championed a “poor Church for the poor.”
Pope Francis repeated a theme of his weeklong visit, urging young Catholics to shun the trappings of materialism and put Jesus Christ at the center of their lives.
Maria Aparecido, 53 , traveled from Sao Paulo with her eight-year-old daughter to see the pope, who had arrived in Copacabana by helicopter before being paraded along the coastline in a jeep with open sides.
Stefania Burgos, a 25-year-old from Ecuador, said “seeing the pope and brothers and sisters from the world over gives me great joy. I see big changes with this pope. He will revolutionize the Catholic Church.”
Vatican officials have made no secret of the fact that the pope’s first trip abroad since his election aims to re-energize his flock. While Brazil remains the world’s biggest Catholic country, its flock has shrunk while Evangelical churches grow.
The massive beach ceremony followed his visit to one of the city’s notoriously violent slums, where he waded into Brazil’s tense political and social debate over corruption and social injustice that erupted in massive protests last month.
Brazil was rocked by the largest street protests in two decades last month, when more than a million people took to the streets to condemn corruption, poor public services and the cost of hosting the 2014 World Cup.
During the beach event, some 500 people held an anti-corruption protest in front of the Rio state governor’s luxurious apartment building.
The 1,000-resident Varginha slum is one of a dozen favelas where police have evicted drug gangs and restored security ahead of next year’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
The pope, referring to the police drive to restore order in the city’s violence-wracked favelas, said tough tactics are not a solution to poverty.
Under tight security, he walked through the ramshackle streets, stopping to chat with delighted residents, kissing babies and accepting a flower garland around his neck.
He visited the humble house of a slum resident, Maria Lucia dos Santos da Penha, who said she told the pope that “this was the best gift I’ve ever had in my life.”
He then blessed the altar of the 62-seat Sao Jeromino Emiliani church, a tiny brick building that faces competition from the favela’s four Evangelical temples.
Later, addressingfellow Argentines gathered in Rio’s cone-shaped cathedral, the pope hammered home his message that clergymen must live must live and work among ordinary people.
The pope returns to Copacabana on Friday for a re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.