- Title: Excited Colombians prepare for Mass by Pope Francis
- Date: 7th September 2017
- Summary: PEOPLE CHEERING AND WAVING AT CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN WOMAN WAITING TO HEAR MASS, MARIA, SAYING: "I'm very happy because the pope is here in Colombia and I hope there is a lot of peace and for children to not suffer and (pray) for my health and above that of my family. I love the pope. Thank God." GENERAL OF PEOPLE GATHERED IN PARK FAITHFUL WAVING AT CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN WOMAN WAITING TO HEAR MASS, MARIA ROJAS, SAYING: "A blessing from him (Pope Francis). Lovely. I think it's great." PEOPLE WAVING VATICAN FLAGS AT CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN WOMAN WAITING TO HEAR MASS, SOLEDAD, SAYING: "I always dreamed of seeing this. A Mass with the pope." PEOPLE GATHERING TO HEAR MASS ROMAN CATHOLICS CHEERING FOR POPE FRANCIS AHEAD OF MASS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FAITHFUL, LUCIA, SAYING: "A moment of emotion and faith." PERSON COVERING FACE FROM SUN
- Embargoed: 21st September 2017 16:54
- Keywords: Pope Francis Bogota Mass Simon Bolivar Park Colombia visit crowds
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Reuters ID: LVA0036XLMCZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Excited Colombians prepared to greet Pope Francis on Thursday (September 7) who will use his first full day in Colombia to send a message of unity, planting a tree of peace and saying a Mass to preach reconciliation in a nation bitterly divided after five decades of war.
The afternoon Mass in the capital's sprawling Simon Bolivar Park is expected to draw more than a million people. People were already saving spaces along the route to Bolivar Park, hours before the Mass was due to start.
Francis, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, is making his 20th foreign trip since becoming pontiff in 2013 and his fifth to his native Latin America, will spend all of Thursday in Bogota and then make day visits to the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena before leaving for Rome on Sunday night.
Among his activities, the Argentine pope will hold private meetings with President Juan Manuel Santos and Catholic bishops.
Francis will encourage reconciliation for Colombians as they prepare to receive 7,000 former FARC rebels into society and aim to repair divisions after a war that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions over five decades. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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