Pope calls troubled Latin America 'Continent of Hope'

APARECIDA: Pope Benedict called Latin America "the Continent of Hope" on Sunday in a mass at Brazil's holiest shrine as he tried to revive the Roman Catholic Church's waning influence in the region.   

About 150,000 faithful gathered outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida, one of the world's largest cathedrals, to hear the Pope deliver a traditional mass on the final day of his first visit to the Americas.   

"This is the faith that has made America the Continent of Hope," the Pope told followers from his throne under a white canopy in front of the basilica. "Not a political ideology, not a social movement, not an economic system."   

The turnout, however, was far less than the 500,000 people expected by Church officials -- an indication of the difficult times it faces in Latin America. In contrast, 1 million people march in an annual Evangelical rally in Sao Paulo.   

Bishops from Latin America and Caribbean meet from Sunday for the next two weeks in Aparecida to talk over problems ranging from a shortage of priests to the loss of Catholics to Protestant groups.   

They will map out priorities for missionary work and social action in a region blighted by poverty, corruption, drug trafficking and violence. Pope Benedict will offer them guidance in an opening address later on Sunday.   

Throughout his visit to Brazil, the world's most populous Catholic country, the 80-year-old Pontiff has demanded people return to strict family values and shun promiscuity. He has also stressed the Church's unwavering opposition to abortion.   

The message has had a mixed reception in a country known for its enthusiastic attitude toward sex and where poverty and violence afflict many families. But in the crowd stretched out before the basilica, there was approval.   

"This is a blessing. He spoke to young people and he reinforced family values. That is so important," said Nathalia Dos Reis, 45, a cleaner from nearby Guaratingueta.   

Bishops said their meeting would tackle the problem of how to win people back to the Catholic Church. Latin America has nearly half the world's 1.1 billion Catholics but millions have left for Protestant groups or abandoned religion altogether.   

"We need to find ways to evangelize more effectively so that people become true Catholics," said Bishop Jose Antonio Tosi Marques from the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.   

Bishop Erwin Krautler from the Amazon state of Para said the Church must do more to help the poor. "We often forget that the poor and landless have a right to a dignified life."   

Krautler was a friend of Dorothy Stang, a US nun murdered in Para in 2005 by ranchers opposed to her work with landless peasants in the Amazon.   

He defended Liberation Theology, a movement in which Marxist-inspired priests allied themselves with the poor against military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current Pope led a Vatican crackdown on the movement.   

"The right to liberation is in the Bible. Liberation Theology is a purely Latin American aspect of the church that deserves respect," Krautler said.   

The shrine at Aparecida, about 100 miles east of Sao Paulo, is visited each year by millions of pilgrims.   

The red-brick basilica was inaugurated by Pope John Paul in 1980 and is the world's second-biggest after St. Peter's in Vatican City. It can hold 45,000 worshipers.   

Street vendor Jose Cesar, 58, who was selling Pope Benedict watches and T-shirts outside the basilica, said the turnout on Sunday was less than stall-owners had expected.   

"But having the Pope here still helps," he said.