Pope Francis is holding a huge outdoor mass – attended by up to half a million people – in a coastal region of Peru struggling to rebuild in the wake of devastating floods last year.
His visit to Trujillo province, some 350 miles north of Lima, will be a change of pace after a politically charged first day in the Latin American country where he condemned ‘great business interests’ for endangering the Amazon and its tribes.
The Pontiff also warned President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and other leaders of another more subtle form of degradation which he said was pervading society: corruption.
Pope Francis hugs a boy at the Apostolic Nunciature in the Peruvian capital Lima on Friday
Pope Francis greets a crowd from the balcony of the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima – his South America trip has been dominated by a row over sex scandals allegedly involving Roman Catholic clergy and his outspoken views on environmental degradation and corruption
Pope Francis received a gift from a child at the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima ahead of his first visit to the Amazon on the final leg of a South American trip
The Pope is due to travel from Lima to the Amazon on the last leg of his tour of South America
Pope Francis (C) greets locals upon his arrival for a meeting with native peoples, in Puerto Maldonado, on Friday
Pope Francis, wearing gifts, leaves after a meeting with representatives of indigenous communities of the Amazon basin from Peru, Brazil and Bolivia, in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado, on Friday
‘How much evil is done to our Latin American people and the democracies of this content by this social virus?’ the pope asked. ‘Everything being done to combat this social scourge deserves our utmost attention.’
On Thursday Pope Francis created controversy in Chile, when he accused victims of the country’s most notorious paedophile of slander.
He made the astonishing claim at the end of a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country.
The Pope said that until he sees proof that Bishop Juan Barros was complicit in covering up sex crimes of the Reverend Fernando Karadima, accusations against Barros are ‘all calumny.’
Saturday’s mass in Peru is taking place on a wide swathe of beach able to accommodate 500,000 people, in the historic town of Huanchaco.
It is popular with surfers and known for its distinctive reed watercraft.
Crowds began to assemble at the venue on Friday night ahead of the pontiff’s appearance, despite persistent drizzle.
Pope Francis will then go to the town’s poor ‘Buenos Aires’ neighborhood which was especially hard hit by last April’s flooding.
More than 130 people were killed across Peru in heavy rains, floods and landslides fuelled by the El Nino weather phenomenon between January and April 2017, which also left at least 300,000 homeless.
The pope is also due to preside over a ceremony in the town square before some 35,000 followers and meet members of the clergy.
On Friday, he cautioned about the future of the rainforest and tribe members, saying they had ‘never been so threatened.’
Bare-chested tribesmen danced and sang for the pope when he arrived in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado.
Thousands of indigenous people had traveled to meet the Pontiff from throughout the Amazon basin region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.
Pope Francis, 81, arrived Thursday afternoon in Peru, the second and last leg of a week-long South American visit.
During the first part of his visit, in Chile, Francis highlighted the plight of vulnerable immigrants, offered an apology to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, prayed with survivors of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship, and called for protection of Chile’s persecuted indigenous communities.