Pope celebrates Mass in Rio aimed at youths

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

11 years ago

Pope Francis celebrates Mass with bishops at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday.

Pope Francis on Saturday challenged bishops from around the world to get out of their churches and preach, and to have the courage to go to the farthest margins of society to find the faithful.

Bishops attend Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Pope Francis is celebrating Mass in Rio de Janeiro’s massive cathedral as he begins the culminating weekend of his first international trip, to the church’s World Youth Day.

An estimated 1,000 bishops are celebrating the Mass along with Francis and his message is expected to echo what he has told young pilgrims all week: Go out of your churches to the peripheries and spread the faith to society’s outcasts.

Francis faces a busy Saturday: After Mass, he goes to Rio’s municipal theater to meet Brazilian politicians, businessmen, intellectuals and the diplomatic community. Afterward, he lunches with the country’s bishops and then presides over an evening vigil on Copacabana beach that is expected to draw over 1 million young people.

He returns to Rome on Sunday after the final Mass.