Hundreds of thousands of cheering people welcomed Pope Francis to Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Monday for the first Mass on the Argentine-born pontiff’s landmark pilgrimage to Spanish-speaking Latin America.
Enthusiastic crowds engulfed Francis as he walked from the airplane that took him from the Ecuadoran capital, Quito, to the coastal city of Guayaquil. Many tried to shake his hand and took selfies with the widely admired pope. Still more lined the roadway down which Francis rode in the popemobile to reach the site of the Mass.