Pope Draws About 650,000 to Outdoor Mass in Córdoba, Argentina

A crowd of about 650,000 people attended an outdoor Mass led by the Pope in Córdoba, Argentina’s second-largest city, during his 12-day tour of South America.

Thousands gathered behind barriers at the Argentine military airport to greet the Pope when he arrived at the Mass site in an open-top car. Many waved the Vatican’s yellow and white flags and chanted expressions of affection.

The Pope’s tour of three countries runs until 17 November. From the capital, Buenos Aires, he is making a round trip of up to 1,300 kilometres to Córdoba, where he is taking part in two events at the foot of the Sierras, a region with a long Catholic history and a close association with the Jesuits.

In his homily, the Pope praised Argentina’s long adherence to Catholic traditions. He cited the country’s first saint, the nun known as Mama Anatola, who lived in the eighteenth century, as well as bishops, priests and a layman killed by the military junta in 1976. “Here in Cordoba… we would like to thank God for the fruits of the diverse sanctity that men and women whom God has sent to this Argentine land,” he said.

The source notes that the Pope is the first to visit Argentina, a country with a Catholic majority, since 1987. The Córdoba Mass was followed by a Mass in Buenos Aires attended by some 2.5 million people, which the source describes as the largest mass gathering of the trip.

The Pope’s tour also includes Uruguay and Peru. The source says he seeks to strengthen the Catholic Church’s presence in South America, a region that has long been one of the Church’s major centres but where its influence is reported to be declining in favour of rapidly growing evangelical communities.

On Sunday in Argentina, the Pope called for the poorest groups in society not to be targeted. His remarks came against the backdrop of the government’s austerity programme, which the Church has criticised for cutting social services. Protecting those who have the least and are most exposed to hardship is a principle that runs through Scripture (Proverbs 31:8-9).

Source: Read the original report (translated from Arabic)