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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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This case showed exactly what is right with due process.. Mr dwyer got his chance to tell his story, was assumed innocent and the prosecution then proved his guilt. Now he’ll rot in jail and everyone knows he did it
Reality is more gruesome than a movie could ever be.
The jury system relies heavily on the assumed ability of the jurors to be able to comprehend complex legal matters that are sometimes crucial to a case.A juror is not obliged to offer any proof of his or hers understanding of such a matter.That could lead and has done in many cases to an ‘incorrect’ verdict.While the appeal system cleans up most of these errors, I wonder if it is time to test jurors for simple comprehension skills rather than let them lose on long costly trials that lead to long costly appeals….etc.It is the best system to have… A jury system ,But it needs to be reviewed.
Claiming to understand reasonable doubt and actually understanding it are two different things.
What parameters would you use to decide that Alan? Sounds to me like the process of jury selection would be so complex as to be unworkable and appeals more likely to succeed due to technicalities concerning juror selection.
Agree completely with you. The selection should at the very least be based on educational standards.I know that sounds elitist and even snobbish. It is not intended to be so.A very good friend of mine took literacy classes about 8/9 years ago.He had served on a jury and there were requirements to ‘read’ some of the evidence in the jury room afterwards.He admitted that he struggled to do so and could not understand half of what he read.Even the ensuing debate among the jurors was double dutch to him in parts.He said he was to embarrassed to admit this. I do not believe his experience to be unique.
I cannot offer a solution,Though I still believe there to be a problem.
This IS a difficult question. However, having an education is not the same as having intelligence or even comprehension. I know several people with degrees, but little real understanding of their subject. A degree gan be obtained with a good memory, or even using memory tricks. In the Elaine O’Hara case, I do think there IS reasonable doubt. The Master/slave relationship is not nearly as uncommon as many people believe. Dolcett or killing, can easilly be a fantasy, but there is a huge difference between having a fantasy as extreme as that, and actually doing it. I think it is a definite possibility that Elaine took her own life, telling Dwyer where, and that he burried her. That doesn’t absolve him from responsibility though, as I do believe it likely that he pushed her in that direction, and failed to report her death.
It doesn’t sound like the concept of reasonable doubt is very complicated at all to be honest.
On the face of it, no. But in practice it becomes exponentially more complex as more and more issues come into play.
I disagree Alan. Reasonable doubt is exactly that, reasonable. It is a subjective concept that a jury of one’s peers is assumed to understand. That is the whole basis of a jury trial. It only becomes complex when one attempts to explain a meaning or definition around it.
Hope he rots in hell
There is no hell. I hope he rots in his head!
It is not the same as a philosophical doubt…but it is often compared to a doubt about making a major decision e.g. marriage..buying a house…..at the very least you must be pretty sure or happy to go ahead.
He looks strange and was into weird sex = guilty
He doesn’t look strange at all to be honest and plenty of people are into weird sex but aren’t murderers.
In cases like these, most people would prefer to wrongfully convict a weirdo than to have weirdo murderer running free. Smoke and fire. Lots of smoke with this weirdo, hence he is almost certainly guilty!
Wish the media didn’t focus on this case as much as it did.
If you understand what a Theory is in the scientific sense, then there should be no problem understanding the premises of reasonable doubt.
It really is actually simple.
That was a good and helpful explanation. Thanks.
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