QUITO, Ecuador — Latin America’s first pope returned to Spanish-speaking South America on Sunday for the first time, bringing a message of solidarity with the poor and with an ailing planet as he began an eight-day tour that will take him to some of the continent’s most impoverished countries
Children in traditional dress greeted Pope Francis at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre airport, the wind blowing off his skullcap and whipping his white cassock as he descended from the plane following a 13-hour flight from Rome. He personally greeted and kissed several indigenous youths waiting for him on the side of the red carpet.
The “pope of the poor” will highlight in his visit to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay his priorities of protecting the marginalized and the planet from injustice and exploitation.
In a speech in front of President Rafael Correa, he immediately signaled key themes: the need to care for society’s most marginal, ensuring socially responsible economic development and, turning to Ecuador specifically, defending “the singular beauty of your country.”
“From the peak of Chimborazo to the Pacific Coast, from the Amazon rain forest to the Galapagos Islands, may you never lose the ability to thank God for what he has done and is doing for you,” he said.
He added that “special attention must be paid to our most fragile brothers and the most vulnerable minorities.”
The Pacific nation of 15 million is home to more than 20,000 plant species as well as the Galapagos Islands, which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in 1859.
Thousands lined the motorcade route that would take Francis to the Vatican ambassador’s residence, many hopeful the pope will have a calming effect on a country that has seen recent street protests.
Some people shouted “Out! Out! Out!” at Correa as the papal motorcade traveled from the airport to the capital. Correa has been buffeted for nearly a month by the most serious protests against his left-leaning government of his more than eight years in power.
Travel agency worker Veronica Valdeon called the Argentine pontiff “a light in the darkness.”
“We are living difficult moments in our country,” she said, “and Francis brings a bit of joy.”
