Paraguayan hopes papal visit will spur change

(Vatican Radio)   Julio Basualdo who works at the Catholic University of Asuncion said he hoped the papal visit to Paraguay will spur the government to do more to tackle poverty and other pressing socio-economic problems. He spoke to our correspondent in Asuncion, Linda Bordoni, just ahead of the Pope’s arrival there.

 

Listen to the interview with Julio Basualdo, a project manager at the Catholic University of Asuncion:

Basualdo said there was "a lot of hope" and expectations surrounding Pope Francis’ visit to Paraguay and he personally hoped that many things will change for the better in the country as a result of it. He told Linda that there is a very large section of the population living below the poverty line and he hoped that the papal visit will spur the government to do more to tackle the plight of the poor. He also spoke about the problem of corruption in Paraguay and said these types of socio-economic and political issues are leading to frequent “protests” in the streets by people calling for change.

Turning to the issue of faith, Basualdo said Paraguayans are “very religious” including the younger sector of the population and he pointed out that a total of around 80,000 young people have volunteered their help during the papal visit.