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Pope urges Latin America to find unity through common faith

08 July 2015 03:43 (UTC +04:00)

In his homily, the Argentine pontiff praised the conviction and strength in the "cry for freedom" during the region's independence struggle from European powers 200 years ago.

"But history tells us that it only made headway once personal differences were set aside," the Pope told the crowd gathered at Quito's Bicentenario Park against the backdrop of the Andean mountains on his third day in Ecuador.

He urged the continent's people to use the Gospel "as a way to unite our hopes, concerns, ideals and even utopian visions."

Tens of thousands of people braved wind and rain to camp out overnight. The weather later changed and the service took place under a hot sun.

Isabel Pavon, 55, came with her two small children, a boy and a girl who held up small wooden crosses.

"It is such a joy to be here," she said, pressed up against a security fence. "He is our pope, the pope of the people."

Pope John Paul II arrived at the same Bicentenario Park when it was an airport 30 years ago.

Francis is visiting three of the smallest and poorest nations during a week-long tour of his native South America.

Political protests had been rocking Ecuador, a socialist-ruled nation of 15 million people, before the pontiff's arrival, but his presence has brought a temporary halt to demonstrations.

The Mass was attended by President Rafael Correa, who had private talks with the pope on Monday night at the presidential palace after Francis returned from the coastal city of Guayaquil, where he said Mass for 800,000 people.

Two bouquets of thousands of roses rested on the tarmac in front of the stage as Francis, wearing a vestment with an indigenous Andean design on it, said the Mass before the huge crowd. Some of the prayers were said in Kichwa, an indigenous language spoken in the Andean region.