International
Dolores Ochoa / AP Photo
Laughing as his cap flew off in the Andean highland wind, Pope Francis flew into Ecuador on Sunday to start a "homecoming" tour of South America, where he will champion the rights of the poor and the planet.
His visit to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay is Francis' first abroad since his landmark encyclical calling for urgent action on climate change.
He chose to visit the three countries specifically because they are among the poorest and most marginal nations of a region that claims 40 percent of the world's Catholics. He's skipping his homeland of Argentina, where he ministered to the poorest slum-dwellers while archbishop, to avoid papal entanglement in this year's presidential election.
While Francis visited Portuguese-speaking Brazil in 2013, this is his first trip home to Spanish-speaking South America since being elected pope.
When he emerged from the plane, a breeze whipped off his white zucchetto cap and swirled his robes, but the affable 78-year-old took it in his stride, walking to an embrace from President Rafael Correa.
In a speech, Francis signaled some of the key themes for the visit: the need to care for society's most marginal, guarantee socially responsible economic development and defend the Earth against profit-at-all-cost development that he says harms the poor the most.
Standing by Correa's side at the airport, Francis pledged that the Catholic Church was ready to help meet the challenges of the day by encouraging a respect for peoples' differences, "fostering dialogue and full participation so that the growth in progress and development already registered will ensure a better future for everyone, with particular concern for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters."
Correa, for his part, echoed many of Francis' own themes about the "perverse" global economic system that keeps the poor on the margins while the rich get richer, exploiting the Earth's natural resources in the process.
"Holy Father, the global order isn't only unjust, it's immoral," Correa said.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Francis wasn't worried about the protests against Correa. He estimated 500,000 people lined the route that took Francis to the Vatican ambassador's residence. Many in the crowd said they hoped the pope would have a calming effect on the country's tense political situation.
Tens of thousands lined the streets as Francis' motorcade drove into Quito, some pushing through a police line. Well-wishers threw gifts at the popemobile, including two live white doves.
Quito, a highland capital mixing colonial cobbled streets with modern high-rises, was plastered with posters and billboards welcoming Francis. A million extra people are expected in Quito and the coastal city of Guayaquil for masses.
Wire services
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