World Youth Day.
People eagerly awaited the arrival of Francis in this heavily Catholic country, where many believe the pontiff needs to address the waning interest in the faith.
"We really need a renovation of faith," Rio schoolteacher Renato Oliveira.
Thousands of people lined city streets on which the pope, famous for his frugality, rode in the back seat of a four-door Fiat that looked like many of the taxis in Rio.
He was to visit the state government offices in the Guanabara Palace in the afternoon for an official welcomed to his first foreign tour since being elected four months ago.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff met Francis as he descended from his flight from Rome. The pontiff was then handed two bouquets of white and yellow flowers by two, each of whom he kissed on the cheek.
On a red carpet full of church leaders, Francis and Rousseff were serenaded by a choir of about three dozen children.
Young people, some draped in Brazilian flags, swarmed his convoy as security shooed them away. Some came close enough to snap photos with smart phones. The convoy stopped on several occasions, including once so Pope Francis could kiss a child.
Francis is in Brazil for World Youth Day, an international gathering of young Catholics initiated by Pope John Paul II. He said aboard his plane that he's concerned about the plight of young people, especially those growing up jobless and isolated in a poor economy.
During his week-long visit, Francis will meet with young Catholics in this Latin American country where more than half the population of the city and surrounding state no longer consider themselves Catholic.
The state of Rio de Janeiro is the least Catholic of the country; barely 45% profess the faith, according to the newspaper O Globo.
Francis warned during his flight from Rome that the global slowdown of the economy runs a risk of "having a generation that hasn't worked. Young people this moment are in crisis."
Brazil is in better shape than the U.S. and European nations; unemployment is at an all-time low in Brazil. But there is discontent, demonstrated by the mass protests last month against a bus fare increase of 20 cents and a perception the country is failing to improve basic services for all social classes – even as it spent billions to build stadiums for the Olympics and World Cup.
More than 1 million people may pack the white sands of Copacabana to attend Mass celebrated by Francis. He also will visit a tiny chapel in a slum.
Brazil remains the world's most Catholic country. Nearly 65% of Brazilians say they are Catholic, but that is down nine percentage points from a decade ago.
In the pope's native Argentina there has been a surge in Mass attendance since his election in March. The Vatican hopes for the same elsewhere.
"To win over people to its ideas, not necessarily to become Catholics, but to win approval for the views the church holds, requires that the church be viewed positively, not just negatively," says Tom Quigley, retired policy adviser on Latin America for the U.S. conference of Catholic Bishops.
The pope's trip includes official receptions and appearances with senior political leaders. It also has scheduled a trip to Brazil's most important Catholic site in Aparecida and a visit to a favela, the shanties common in Brazil's biggest cities.
The pope will later receive young offenders and inaugurate the wing of a Catholic hospital that treats drug addicts – issues that reflect his priorities as pope of showing solidarity with the poor and disadvantaged, Quigley says.
Francis plans to ride through the center of the city in an open-air vehicle, instead of the traditional bulletproof popemobile used for papal tours – a reflection of his informal style and desire to be closer to the people, even if it causes security concerns, says Norberto Padilla, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and acquaintance of the former archbishop of Buenos Aires.
"This is the style we saw in Buenos Aires," where Francis was a cardinal who took the bus to work and walked the streets of the shanties to know his flock better, Padilla says. "He has the idea of not putting barricades between himself and the people."
Brazilians were expected to warmly welcome the pope, despite being from a rival country.
"That's only something on the soccer pitch," Padilla says of tensions between the two countries.
Even before the pope arrived in Rio, thousands packed the city center, awaiting a glimpse of the pontiff. Pope Francis playfully spoke of the rivalry on the flight to Rio, telling reporters, "God is Brazilian and you wanted a pope, too?"
Some who came here for World Youth Day say his style will bring Catholics back to the church.
"People are here because he became pope," says Marina Artese, 23, a schoolteacher waiting to visit Christ the Redeemer, the 98-foot tall statue of Jesus with outstretched arms that overlooks the city high on Corcovado mountain.
"People were already going, but the majority signed up after he was elected."
She said it is symbolic that Francis refers to himself as the archbishop of Rome, as if he is just one bishop of many.
"This opens the door to dialogue with others," including those of other faiths, she said.
Argentines make up of the largest nationality of pilgrimages, according to Catholic News Service. Brazilians expressed similar hopes of renewal after Francis leaves.
"His visit can bring new life to the church here," says Cynthia Mazzi, a Brazilian pilgrim from Sao Paulo. "It would be like a new birth."
COPY http://www.usatoday.com
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