Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, will head to Latin America for a "Papal Visit." The pope wishes to show his concern to the poor and the forgotten in three key countries.
In a report by the Wall Street Journal, Pope Francis has his schedule full for his planned visits to Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia. His visit to his "homeland" is part of his call to try and uplift the falling Catholic churches in the region as well as rebuke inequality and spread general awareness on environmental degradation.
Even the chosen countries are symbolic since they are the largest regions with the most indigenous population. However, he will not visit his native Argentina, a considerably big and prosperous land.
In addition to the report, the pope is also scheduled to drop a visit at a notorious Bolivian prison, the site where an activist Jesuit priest in the 1980's was killed and a slum riverside in Paraguay full of rural migrants.
According to Rome Reports, Pope Francis wanted to visit the three countries that were considered unimportant.
"He wanted to visit these three countries that aren't considered very important when evaluated with geopolitical criteria," Fr. Federico Lombardi said.
His first stop will be in Ecuador on July 5th where he will be greeted by President Rafael Correa. He will then hold a "Mass for Latin American Families" in Guayaquil which is the largest city in Ecuador. On July 8th he will fly to Bolivia. Fr. Federico Lombardi said that the pope has decided to make a stop in El Alto and La Paz to avoid altitude sickness. On the 10th he will head to Paraguay and will only visit Asuncion and hold a Mass at the Sanctuary of Caacupe.
National Catholic Reporter said in an article that this kind of visits aim to highlight his reform agendas. The Vatican leader did not only bring life to the Catholic Church but is also greatly influencing Latin America politics. He brokered a deal that renewed U.S. and Cuba relations after 50 long years.
"We need leaders like him who will talk about important subjects. not only about war, or politics, or make speeches, but somebody who will talk about love and inclusion," Colombian rockstar Juanes said.
Pope Francis is the first South American that has ever become leader of the Vatican. He is also considered as the first head of the Catholic Church that is from a New World. According to Pew Research, about two-thirds of adults in South American counties have positive opinions about the pope. The research also states that Pope Francis represents a "major force of change" not only in South America but also in the Catholic Church and the rest of the world.