Julia Carneiro says around 1.5m pilgrims were expected to attend the World Youth Day event
Pope
Francis has visited Copacabana beach, in the Brazilian city of Rio de
Janeiro, to hold the greeting ceremony for World Youth Day.
After arriving by helicopter, the pope drove along the 4km of the beach, stopping many times to greet the crowd.An estimated 1m pilgrims attended the event, following a papal visit to a shanty town, or favela.
Meanwhile, bad weather has forced this weekend's events to be moved from a drenched farm on the outskirts of Rio.
A site set up at a farm on the western outskirts of the city for Saturday's vigil and Sunday's service, where up to 2m people are expected, was covered with mud and puddles after two days of relentless rain.
The authorities have announced that these events will now also take place at Copacabana beach.
'Olympic delegations' Hours before the Pope arrived at Copacabana on Thursday, young pilgrims started gathering along the beach.
"I've always heard that Cariocas (Rio-born people) did not like the cold or the rain. But you are showing your faith is stronger. Well done!" Pope Francis joked with the crowd at the start of his address.
Groups resembling Olympic delegation were holding up the flags of their countries and many were carrying the distinct World Youth Day backpacks in yellow, green or blue, the colours of the host-country's flag, the BBC's correspondent in Rio, Julia Carneiro, says.
The pope was driven along the 4km of the Copacabana beach
On the fourth day of his visit to Brazil, the first international trip of his papacy, the head of the Roman Catholic church also addressed Argentine faithful in Rio's cathedral.
During the event, he told pilgrims to take to the streets and "stir things up".
"I expect a messy World Youth Day. But I want things messy and stirred up in the congregations, I want you to take to the streets. I want the Church to take to the streets," the Argentine-born pontiff told the crowd.
Before the meeting with his fellow countrymen, Pope Francis blessed the new altar at a tiny church and hugged and kissed locals who crowded the Varginha community streets.
'Forgotten community' Security was tight in the shanty town, which is part of the larger Manguinhos favela, one of the many hillside shanty towns which surround Rio.
Helicopters and sharpshooters were on patrol as Pope Francis visited the area while school children waved flags and held up balloons.
The excitement was palpable as he arrived and resident Antonieta de Souza Costa told Reuters news agency she thought the visit would "bring people back to the Catholic Church''.
Pope Francis requested a favela, or shanty town, be included in his schedule of visits
Heavily-armed police have moved into some of the more lawless favelas, including Varginha, to "flush out" the criminals and drug dealers who controlled large swathes of these communities.
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Soon after he arrived, Pope Francis jumped out of his Popemobile and walked along a corridor of outstretched arms on the street, stopping to bless children and babies with a kiss on the forehead. There was heavy police presence in and around Varginha, a recently "pacified" shanty-town, part of an area previously referred to as the Gaza Strip because of drug violence.
As the Pope addressed the community from a stage set up on a muddy football pitch, the crowd cheered when he said no "pacification effort" would last if society ignored the poor and abandoned them to the margins - and appealed for the rich and the authorities to battle the inequality so evident in the city of Rio.
At the scene
Despite the heavy rain, the residents of the small Varginha favela were out early, with umbrellas and raincoats, anxiously waiting on the street where Pope Francis was to pass. People put up banners on their houses and gathered on rooftops for the best view. One resident set up a table with coffee and cups in front of his house hoping for the pontiff to stop by for a cafezinho.Soon after he arrived, Pope Francis jumped out of his Popemobile and walked along a corridor of outstretched arms on the street, stopping to bless children and babies with a kiss on the forehead. There was heavy police presence in and around Varginha, a recently "pacified" shanty-town, part of an area previously referred to as the Gaza Strip because of drug violence.
As the Pope addressed the community from a stage set up on a muddy football pitch, the crowd cheered when he said no "pacification effort" would last if society ignored the poor and abandoned them to the margins - and appealed for the rich and the authorities to battle the inequality so evident in the city of Rio.
According to official estimates, more than 20% of the population of the city live in favelas.
The Pope, who has called for a "Church of the poor" and who
during his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires regularly visited some of
the poorest areas of that city, specifically asked for a favela to be
included in his schedule. Locals say the government's policy of sending large numbers of police to the area has gone some way towards calming the area, but not enough.
"There is no state presence; our community was forgotten for a long time. I hope with the Pope's visit we can have some improvement," carpenter Paulo Lima told NBC news.
'Passing idols' The visit comes just a day after Pope Francis said it was key to tackle the roots of drug abuse rather than consider legalising them.
At a Mass at the shrine of Aparecida, he also warned tens of thousands of faithful against the "passing idols" of money, power and pleasure.
"How many dealers of death there are that follow the logic of power and money at any cost," he told the congregation.
Leaders in Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and others have spoken for softer stances on drugs policy. In Uruguay, a project decriminalising marijuana sale is set to be voted in Congress next week.
The highlight of the Pope's trip to Brazil is expected to be a prayer service on Rio's Copacabana Beach later on Thursday, which is likely to draw hundreds of thousands.
Pope Francis
Analysis
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The BBC's Wyre Davies in Rio de Janeiro says the Pope's visit to Brazil is causing excitement not unlike that triggered by a major rock concert.All eyes in Brazil on the Pope
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Pope's daily routine
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New priorities
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The Pope's inbox
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Change and continuity
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Break with past
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Electric atmosphere
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Two-pope problem
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World's Catholics
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Explore St Peter's Square
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Inside the Conclave
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Glossary of terms
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