As Pope Francis' tour of Brazil came to a close, an estimated 3 million Catholics flooded the streets, cheering, brandishing flags and wearing religious displays. The Pope delivered his final mass of the tour on Copacabana Beach Sunday morning. He urged the attendees to make disciples of people of all nations, a recurring theme in part due to World Youth Day, USA Today reported. It has been a mission of his, the Pope said, to start cultivating religious values within youth.
"The Gospel is for everyone, not just for some," Francis said. "Do not be afraid to go and to bring Christ into every area of life, to the fringes of society, even to those who seem farthest away."
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This is the Pope's first international venture. During his stay, he explained to the people gathered in Brazil his goals as Pope, which included: solidarity with the poor, getting priests interacting with the public outside of the parish and re-evangelizing Catholic regions that have turned away from the church. A lack of faith was certainly not the case in Brazil as people stood in the cold, some barefoot during the event that clearly pushed the limits of Brazil's services as the odor of trash loomed and a visible drought of police surrounded the crowd.
''We were dying of cold but it was worth it,'' said Lucrecia Grillera, an 18-year-old from Argentina, where Francis is a native. ''It was a tiring day, but it was a great experience.''
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The nearly week-long trip ended with Francis urging Brazilian leaders to fight back against the country's woes, brought to the forefront by the 2014 World Cup protests in which protesters decried the reckless spending by the government on the games. In attendence were presidents from across Latin America, including Brazil, his native Argentina and Bolivia, the Associated Press reported.
"Listen to the cries of the people asking for justice," he said.
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