WYD in Rio: What Brazil's papers are saying on Friday
(Vatican Radio) Our correspondent in Rio, Sean Patrick Lovett, takes a look at what
Brazil's papers had to say in their Friday editions about the ongoing World Youth
Day events. Listen to Sean's report whose full text is below:
"Remember,
you heard it first on Vatican Radio. The news of the day here in Rio is the same as
that which you read on our website and FB page last night. All the daily papers are
filled with their version of why the venue was changed from Guaratiba to Copacabana
for the Vigil and closing WYD Mass. O Globo blames it on a “lack of organization”
(though, how WYD organizers could possibly have foreseen the disastrous effects of
days of constant rainfall, is unclear). The paper illustrates its point by publishing
a full front-page photograph of Guaratiba underwater and pursues the issue by demanding
that the Rio Municipality reveal the cost of constructing – and demolishing – the
venue. They fail to acknowledge that the same costs are being paid by the local Church
and WYD organization. Addressing the story in a lighter vein, another article in the
same paper is headlined: “Now all roads lead to Copacabana”. O Estado do S.Paulo
is also polemical. It opens with a picture of soldiers wading through the mud on the
Campus Fidei and a headline that reads: “Most important papal event changed because
of lack of planning”. Other articles regard the welcoming ceremony at Copacabana accompanied
by generic titles like, “Pope appeals to faithful to be more spiritual”. The same
paper dedicates ample space inside to coverage of the visit to the Varginha favela.
According to the reports, the Pope criticised the so-called “pacification” of the
slum and invited the young people to continue protesting against corruption. An interesting
backgrounder on the visit is entitled “No one slept awaiting the Pope” and describes
the last-minute completion of the podium during the night because of an electricity
black-out. The paper also offers pages of colour pictures of the celebration at Copacabana
and highlights Pope Francis’ meeting with Argentinian pilgrims at the Cathedral. The
quote of the day (oft-repeated in both print and electronic media – and much commented
on) is the Pope’s remark to young people of Argentina: “I feel caged”… Was he referring
to the specific security situation that wouldn’t allow him to engage with the young
people as spontaneously as he would have liked? Or was he speaking in more generic
terms about the limitations imposed on him as Pope? " Watch this space
for further developments.