Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Pope heading to Brazil on first trip to Latin America

Boston Herald
By Associated Press
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 - Updated: 05:05 AM EST

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI departed Wednesday on his first pilgrimage to Latin America - a test of the 80-year-old pontiff’s stamina and how he intends to deal with pressing challenges to his church in the region.

The Vatican is promising he will deliver a tough message to politicians on poverty and crime during the five-day visit to Brazil - the world’s most populous Roman Catholic country - as well as try to strengthen a church battling to retain its leading role in the region.

The German-born pope plans to lay out his strategy when he opens a once-a-decade meeting of bishops from throughout Latin America in the shrine city of Aparecida, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America’s largest city.

The Vatican’s No. 2 official said Benedict will issue a "strong message" on poverty, social inequality, drug trafficking and violence and on the exodus of Catholics joining Protestant evangelical churches.

"We hope these messages are heard, not only in the Catholic communities but by the political class," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, told reporters.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 1:08 PM