Pope Francis departs for Brazil to attend World Youth Day

Pope Francis left Rome on Monday for Brazil, his first international trip, where mammoth crowds are expected to celebrate Mass on Rio's Copacabana beach.             

The 76-year-old Argentinian who became the church's first pontiff from the Americas in March, will turn the crescent-shaped shoreline into a giant stage for his first international trip as Pope, presiding over the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day festival.           

The Pope was greeted at Rome's Fiumicino Airport by Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, before boarding a flight to Rio de Janeiro.                  

More than a million young Catholics are expected to flock to Rio to celebrate their new Pope.            
In one of the key events of his trip, the church's first Jesuit leader will venture into a rough slum that sits along a violence-soaked road known by locals as the Gaza Strip.               

For many Brazilians, images of that visit will conjure memories of the still beloved John Paul II, who made his own visits to Rio's slums in 1980 and 1997.              

Since then, evangelical groups have made deep inroads into Brazil's slums with their hands-on ministry of personal improvement and self-discipline.


AP