SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AP) — Here are the latest developments from Pope Francis’ trip to South America:
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12 a.m.
With a vast crowd and a temporary altar, Pope Francis needed someplace to change before saying Mass. The closest place at hand was a Burger King.
So the famously unpretentious pope used the fast food restaurant before walking to the altar. The restaurant was closed for business due to the Mass, in which the pope denounced consumerism.
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11 a.m.
Celebrating his first Mass in Bolivia, Pope Francis is calling on the faithful to reject consumerism, which he says only creates barriers between people.
Francis is addressing hundreds of thousands in Christ the Redeemer square in Santa Cruz.
He says consumerism includes a logic in which everything becomes an object that can be consumed and negotiated. He says that excludes people, but the contrary is necessary for a fulfilling life.
Francis said: “A memorable life needs (the participation) of others.”
After the Mass, Francis’ main event of the day is a keynote speech to a summit of grass-roots groups whose advocacy for the poor and marginalized has been championed by history’s first Latin American pope.
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10:15 a.m.
Pope Francis has begun celebrating an open-air Mass in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.
Hundreds of thousands have packed into Christ the Redeemer square and the streets beyond. Overnight, several thousand slept in square to get a spot close to the front.
Francis arrived in the Andean nation late Wednesday after three days in Ecuador.
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9:30 a.m.
Pope Francis is out and about on the popemobile heading to his first public event of the day in Bolivia, an open-air Mass in Santa Cruz’s Christ the Redeemer square.
Francis’ bodyguards jogged alongside his popemobile at a fast clip as the pope waved to the crowds. His motorcade route was lined by flag-waving Bolivians held back by a human chain of police.
After the Mass, Francis’ main event of the day is a keynote speech to a summit of grass-roots groups whose advocacy for the poor and marginalized has been championed by history’s first Latin American pope.
Overnight, several thousand slept in square to get a spot close to the front.
Francis arrived in the Andean nation late Wednesday after three days in Ecuador.
