Pope meets Lula, asks youth to evangelize (2nd Roundup)

May 11, 2007, 1:03 GMT

Pope Benedict XVI embraces an Indian at the Paceaembu Stadium in Sao Paulo, 10 May 2007. The pontiff arrived to Brazil the previous day for a five day visit, during which he will inaugurate the the V General Conference of South American and Caribbean Bishops (CELAM) in Aparecida on 13 May 2007. EPA/FERNANDO BIZERRA JR

Sao Paulo - Pope Benedict XVI met privately Thursday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and later asked some 40,000 youth to evangelize their peers, on the second day of a pastoral visit to the world's most populous Roman Catholic country.

The trip continues Friday with the canonization of the first Brazilian-born saint, Friar Galvao, and the opening Sunday of a key conference of Latin American bishops.

The pope met for half an hour with Lula in a tense atmosphere marked by a dispute over abortion, though according to Vera Machado, Brazilian ambassador to the Vatican, the controversial issue was not discussed.

Later, some 40,000 young people turned up to meet Benedict at Sao Paulo's Pacaembu stadium on an unusually cool autumn night.

'I send you out on the great mission of evangelizing young men and women who have gone astray in this world, like sheep without a shepherd,' the pontiff told his enthusiastic audience in Portuguese. 'Be apostles of youth.'

The young people cheered the pope to tunes popular with football fans. Some had travelled from other Latin American countries to see Benedict, and many arrived in the financial metropolis from across Brazil.

In a two-hour rally including music and dance, the pope asked young Catholics to abstain from premarital sex and not to fall prey to 'materialism and secularism.'

'Make the family a centre that radiates peace and joy; be promoters of life, from its beginning to its natural end,' Benedict said, underlining the churches social teachings and its stance on life.

Entrance to the rally was free, with Catholic dioceses distributing tickets. However, scalpers were offering tickets for 80 dollars and more. An estimated extra 100,000 people did not make it into the stadium but could follow the pope's address on six giant screens.

Benedict reminded Brazilian young people of their social responsibilities and urged them to combat such evils as poverty and environmental destruction.

'Do not waste your youth. Do not seek to escape from it. Live it intensely. Consecrate it to the high ideals of faith and human solidarity,' the pontiff said during what was billed as one of the main events of his visit.

Earlier Thursday, the pope met privately with Lula in what both sides considered simply a 'polite' visit. The two leaders did not discuss abortion, a topic on which church and government officials have made their disagreements clear, with Lula seeking to liberalize the country's abortion laws.

Vera Machado, Brazilian ambassador to the Vatican, said that Lula wants to maintain Brazil's separation of church and state and 'to preserve and consolidate a lay state and to have religion as an instrument to treat the spirit and social problems.'

Some analysts interpreted the phrase as a justification of Brazilian reluctance to sign a bilateral agreement proposed by the Vatican that reportedly involves the teaching of religion in schools.

Machado said that Lula told Benedict about his Borsa Familia programme - through which Brazil provides financial assistance to many of the 40 million Brazilians living in poverty.

The pope arrived Wednesday for a five-day visit, his first to the Americas as pontiff, with the goal of bringing new 'vigour' to Catholicism in Latin America.

On Friday, the pontiff is scheduled to celebrate an open-air mass for an expected 1 million people to make Friar Galvao the first Brazilian-born saint.

In his meetings with Lula and with young people, Benedict stressed the importance of the fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean. The region's bishops, joined by peers from North America, Spain and Portugal, are set to meet beginning Sunday through May 31 in Aparecida, Brazil.