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 Speaking to 800,000 people on the first leg of his "homecoming"
tour of South America, the 78-year-old pope weaved his homily around
the theme of the family, which will be the subject of the month-long
synod at the Vatican.
The meeting is expected to discuss ways to reach out to Catholics
who have divorced and remarried outside the Church. Under current
rules, they are prohibited from receiving communion unless they
abstain from sexual relations.
The gathering is also expected to discuss how the Church should
reach out to homosexual Catholics.
The pope said the synod "would consider concrete solutions to the
many difficult and significant challenges facing families in our
time."
He asked for prayers for the synod "so that God can take even what
might seem to us impure, scandalous or threatening and turn it ...
into a miracle. The family today is in need of a miracle."
Conservative bishops oppose any changes regarding the divorced and
remarried. At a preparatory meeting last year they botched
conciliatory language on the pastoral care of gay couples.
Asked about the pope's words on the synod, the Vatican spokesman
said Francis was not referring to specific controversies but that he
wanted the synod to find ways "to help people move from a situation
of sin to a situation of grace."
The Argentine-born pontiff delivered his remarks in Ecuador's second
city Guayaquil, a steamy port sometimes referred to as the world's
"banana capital."
In line with his simple style, Francis rode into the city in a small
silver Fiat marked for the occasion with Vatican City number plates
- "SCV 1" - standing for Stato della Citta del Vaticano or State of
Vatican City.
Tens of thousands of people lined the route from the airport, at
times rushing police to touch the car and throw flower petals before
it.
His eyes often squinting in the sun, Francis switched to an open
jeep when he reached the sprawling Mass site and rode though the
crowd, which authorities estimated at about 800,000.
"I've come to this spiritual encounter to ask the pope to heal me
because I have cancer," said Franklin Borbor, 48, who despite his
illness traveled more than five hours to find his place in the park.
Others came from as far away as Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico.
FAMILY VALUES
In his homily, the pope also called for a rekindling of family
values and solidarity with the elderly, the abandoned and the
unemployed.
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"How many of our adolescents and young people sense that (love and
happiness) are no longer found in their homes? How many women, sad
and lonely, wonder when love left, when it slipped away from their
lives? How many elderly people feel left out of family celebrations,
cast aside and longing each day for a little love?" he said.
He said the family was the "best social capital" and could not be
replaced by other institutions.
After the mass, Francis went to a Jesuit-run school to visit an old
friend he has not seen in three decades, the cigar-smoking Rev.
Francisco Cortes.
When he was a seminary director in Argentina, Francis, then Father
Jorge Bergoglio, would send seminarians to the school to study
theology with Cortes, now a diminutive 91-year-old Spaniard
affectionately known as "Father Paquito."
The pope's visit to Guayaquil took on extra significance for
Ecuador, and its leftist President Rafael Correa, given it has been
the epicenter of anti-government protests for weeks.
Francis was to hold talks with Correa later on Monday.
Thousands have been taking to the streets in Guayaquil and elsewhere
to protest tax changes and what they see as state authoritarianism.
Correa says the reforms will only affect the super-wealthy and
accuses his foes of seeking a coup d'etat.
Protest leaders have called a truce during the papal visit.
"The pope's coming is putting a bit of peace in the hearts of we
Ecuadoreans," said Jose Paldarreaga, 64, a participant at the Mass
in Guayaquil.
After Ecuador, the pope visits Bolivia and Paraguay on a tour
encompassing three of the poorest and smallest countries in South
America. The pope visited Brazil for a youth festival in 2013 but
that was to substitute for predecessor Benedict after his sudden
resignation.
(Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia, Girish Gupta in Quito;
Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Grant McCool)
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