Huge crowds gather for papal mass in Spain

Aug 21, 2011, 7:40 GMT

Madrid - Hundreds of thousands of Catholics on Sunday gathered at a Madrid airport for a gigantic open-air mass which was to form the highlight of Pope Benedict XVI's four-day trip to Spain.

As he drove into the Cuatro Vientos airport in the popemobile, Benedict received an ecstatic welcome from crowds waving flags and chanting 'this is the youth of the pope.'

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were at the airport to welcome the pontiff, who was visiting Spain on the occasion of the World Youth Day celebrations.

A prayer vigil at the airport on Saturday evening was described by media reports as the biggest Catholic gathering ever in Spain.

Organizers put the number of participants at nearly two million. It had earlier been estimated that about one million pilgrims from 190 countries had arrived in Madrid.

The vigil was interrupted by a rainstorm which made the pope suspend a part of his speech. Winds knocked over a lamppost which fell on a tent and caused minor injuries to seven people, according to emergency services.

Health workers also attended to about 700 people who had suffered heat-related health problems while waiting for the pope in temperatures of about 40 degrees Celsius.

Thousands of the pilgrims spent the night at the airport to prepare for Sunday's mass.

Communion during the mass was cancelled, because the storm destroyed some of the consecrated wafers at the airport, organizers said.