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BRINGING HIS MESSAGE of a “poor Church for the poor,” Pope Francis headed for Brazil today to find a country facing a shrinking Catholic flock and anger over government waste.
Francis left Rome for Rio de Janeiro shortly before 0700 GMT, embarking on his first foreign trip abroad since becoming pontiff. In keeping with his trademark simplicity, the 76-year-old carried his own hand luggage onto the plane.
Meanwhile, pilgrims from around the world were gathering in Rio for World Youth Day, arriving by bus from neighboring nations or landing by plane from across the ocean to greet the first pope from Latin America.
As men in swim trunks and women in tiny bikinis dived in the waves, workers climbed scaffolding on Copacabana beach on Sunday to finish the ornate stage that the pope will use to greet throngs of young people on Thursday.
Pilgrims
Nuns checked in at hotels while other pilgrims walked on the beach, flaunting the colors of their countries as if it was already the 2014 World Cup. More than one million people are expected for the festivities.
“We have a Jesuit pope who is eternally simple, humble, who is revolutionising the Catholic Church,” said Antonio Prada, a 27-year-old Venezuelan clad in a T-shirt in his country’s yellow, blue and red colors.
“His message is that we should be like Christ, that he’s the example to follow,” Prada said as he walked along Copacabana’s swirling, black and white promenade.
Speaking from the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis said: “Everybody who is going to Rio wants to hear Jesus. And they want to ask him: ‘Jesus, what must I do with my life, what is my path?’”
Girls walk along the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro yesterday in front of the site where Pope Francis will conduct mass on Thursday (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
The Argentine pope’s message of a simpler church, closer to the people, may strike a nerve in this emerging power. Brazil has become richer in time but struggles with corruption and lagging public services that brought some one million protesters to the streets last month.
Despite the past protests, which were sometimes marred by violence, the pope is ditching his armored “Popemobile” for an open-top jeep to have direct contact with the people. Authorities are deploying 30,000 troops and police in the crime-riddled city.
During his week-long visit, Francis will see the faces of Brazil’s success and struggles, starting with a meeting Monday with President Dilma Rousseff and followed by a visit to one of Rio’s sprawling favelas, or slums, on Thursday.
‘Facade’
While Francis meets Rousseff in the Rio state governor’s palace, atheists and the Anonymous protest group plan to demonstrate outside against the $53 million spent from public coffers for the pope’s visit.
“Our leaders must be more in touch with the pope and invest more in the country,” said Adilson de Sena, 60, who rents beach chairs on Copacabana. Pointing to the stage, he said: “The pope is simple, humble. I think he’s going to think this was too much for him.”
A sand sculpture of the pope on Copacabana beach. (AP Photo/Victor R Caivano)
Edina Maria Perreira Lima, a 49-year-old retired cook, embodies some of Brazil’s woes: She needs to treat a stomach ailment but can’t afford health insurance — and thieves snatched her purse last week.
“The government is putting a facade for the world to see the best of Brazil. But behind this facade, people are dying in hospitals,” she said on the beach next to the pope’s stage.
While Perreira is happy the pope is bringing a message of peace, she is among Brazil’s growing Evangelical population because “it speaks more about God and Catholics speak more about saints.”
Stemming the flow of Catholics toward Protestantism or secularism is one the pope’s challenges since he succeeded Benedict XVI in March. He has since championed a youthful, vibrant church.
More than 90 per cent of Brazilians identified as Catholic in 1970, according to the census. A poll by Datafolha Institute showed Sunday 57 percent now call themselves Catholic, while 28 percent say they are Evangelicals.
Francis is scheduled to take a break Tuesday and travel Wednesday to the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, a pilgrimage site located halfway between Sao Paulo and Rio.
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Current national debt is circa €190B. Is Noonan giving up on getting the ECB to finance the Bank debt and get it deducted from the €190B. This was one of FG’s election promises. The real national debt figure is probably close to €500B if we were to accrue all PRSI pension liabilities. Yesterday’s article in the Sunday Times is frightening on this.
Why would they include future liabilities? At that rate you could bring future expected revenue into the equation!
Because as from 2017, we have to account for unfunded liabilities to give a true picture of national debt. Just as companies have had to do for years. There’s no real difference between a bond you have to repay and a pension you’re committed to paying, except in accounting terms.
Well said. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Where will the money to fund these early repayments come from ? I know it’s a stupid question but does anyone know the answer ?
Maurice the minister is doing lip service for the next election. Europe is in receivership and has told Noonan no to what you have noted. It would be nice but our politician didn’t talk hard they were the good boys in the class. So Europe expects them to keep paying.
They will be coming from 15 year loans/bond issues so the banks will be lending this money to repay them back early.
Wait ’til Ireland doesn’t get the retroactive bank recapitalization.
And when – not if – new international corporate tax rules take effect from 2016 (OECD), at least €50 billion, or half the annual value of services exports will be vapourized.
Plus, some multi-nationals have also said they will leave when that happens i.e. when they have to start paying a lot more corporation tax back home on top of high wages in Ireland.
Hold on to your tin hats.
Emily
Perhaps now the penny might drop when we consider the point John Bruton was making when discussing such liabilities recently.!
He was massively abused on this site when his opinion about defaulting by the State on pensions etc when the alternative was bankruptcy .
How quickly we shoot the messenger in Ireland rather than trying to deal with realities.
Still think that a debt deal will have to be done.
The EU live in a fantasy world where real economic reality is denied and put on long finger.
They blew their chance to resolve the Euro crisis.
That would apply to unfunded civil service pensions but not to PRSI pensions. That liability is subject to year by year legislation and, in theory, could be reduced or abolished by a new Finance Act. It won’t happen of course, but the possibilty means that it is not a reckonable long term debt.
What do you mean give up, they didn’t even ask for feck sake
ohhh I feel another seismic shift coming on….
Property tax
Water charges
USC
….any if these terms familiar to you????
No financial penalty for paying off loans early. Ha ha. We should be getting a discount for paying early.
Don’t get into finance. I can tell by this one comment that it’s not for you.
We should never have had them in the first place…ffs
Getting a bit annoyed with this sycophantic attitude the government has with Europe.
What, you feel no surge of patriotic pride when our minister begs the faceless financiers to kindly allow us to give us a big ball of cash?
* you a big ball of cash *
The Germans will never forgive us for the Hypo/DEPFA mess.
Peter.
What a brain and what a genius. Please tell us how yo can save the State a cool three hundred and seventy five million Euro a year as proposed by Minister Noonan so that we don’t have to politely ask our creditors for agreement to vary the terms of our Bailout.
You must be a whizz with figures and I envy the confidence with which you stride across these pages.
I showed your comments to a colleague and I could see straight away that he misunderstands you. In tact what he said about you couldn’t be printed here but all great men Peter suffer from such slingshots!
@Rodgers as per usual your wisdom knows no bounds you and your comments are wasted on the journal.
Its time you took up your true vocation and that in my humble oppinion is that of chief Fine Gael ass wipe.
Paul
Thanks! Your opinion in your own words is indeed humble and it is quite clear that you never aspired beyond that though instinct probably told you that there was enough material in you to heft a Sinn Fein shovel but you would need to be told what to do after that.
The world needs simple folk Paul and at least you have recognised that!
Well said Paul Mc. When Rodgers is in the company of Edna its like a scene from the film The Human Centipede.
hows life as the chief arse kisser and male cheer leader to enda and his brigade richard cos clearly you are one of them patriots big nose hogan was on about
So Richard hows that seismic shift of Enda the statesman performing these days?
Kerry
Whaaaaaaaaat?
When the cost of Noonan’s very generous minster’s pension to which he does not contribute a cent is added to the debt it could be the last straw that breaks the taxpayer’s back.
Wow, we are so lucky.
Looking at the returns, it is all rosy for Noonan – revenue’s new mantra is to suck every last penny of savings and profit out of small business and their employees and to present it as a gift to some unelected ex-politicians and expect a pat on his obnoxious head.
“Look what I brought you – someone else’s debt, maybe I’ve ruined a few small businesses and taxed earnings and savings from Irish people to the hilt, but as long as we’re all happy let’s make this look like good news to the ‘media’ – you’ll print it like that, you property funded news website”…
At the end of the 1st 1/4 2008 this country was heading towards a deficit of 22bn euros. In d last 5 yrs we have undertaken a huge social experimenr in how to balance d books without strikes/riots etc and we have nearly made it. There is huge credit due to fg and lab and enormous credit due to d dept of finance and public expenditure.
Why should lab and fg get any credit. Ff told them what to do before they got booted out.
How is it any credit to them, it’s a credit to the irish people not the politicians. The politicians didn’t stop riots they hid away in Leinster house and quietly stripped us of our pride and dignity and left most of us demoralised and close to bankruptcy. Suicides are through the roof, let’s see these magnificent politicians of yours deal with that elephant in the roof. Crime.? It’s bandit country in ireland again, those shower deserve no credit for anything.
The simple fact if the matter is that this country of 4.5million people withdrew over 16bn from circulation over the past 5 years. Politicans put their names forward as spokespeople for that. You didnt. You come on forums and talk abt how bad it is. Pokiticans arent stupid or even greedy anymore. They all know the suicide numbers, the high taxes, the unemployment but they still put their names forward. You didnt. it is easier spew vitriol from d sidelines
More bad news for the Shinners. Tax take up. Ahead of forecast.
Where are the Shinners anyway?
I suppose it’s hard for them to spin positives into negatives. Especially when there’s an election coming up. Just doesn’t appeal to voters.
But it’s all they have.
so anyone that has a different opinion to them muppets in power are shinners………explains the mental state of the cheerleaders for the likes of the FG/LB/FF crowd on hear…..deluded one trick ponies who believe anything that comes out of the lot in the dail
Election spew has started
” Noonan ” and ” charm ” in the same sentence !! . It is just so wrong, Jack Horgan-Jones. Just so, so wrong.
Will Mr Noonan be dancing suggestively for Mario Draghi et al as well?
Charm?? God help Europe…
Jam?………………………………..
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NEVER!
Why was my two comments deleted?
Just in time for the general election!
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