Pope holds huge outdoor mass in front of 200,000 worshipers to console flood-hit people of northern Peru and condemn community violence
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5291719/Pope-Francis-holds-huge-outdoor-mass-flood-hit-Peru.html
Pope Francis has held a huge outdoor mass - attended by about 200,000 people - in a northern coastal region of Peru struggling to rebuild in the wake of devastating floods last year.
The Pontiff consoled Peruvians who lost their homes and livelihoods in devastating floods last year, telling them that they can overcome all of life's 'storms' by coming together as a community and stamping out the violence that plagues their part of the country.
Pope Francis travelled to an area of northern Peru that is frequently hit by 'El Nino' storms and was inundated in 2017 by flooding that killed more than 150 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Some residents are still living in tents.
'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.