Pope Francis Can Expect Warm Welcome And Tough Questions Awaits In South America

Pope Francis is expected to be confronted by a host of thorny issues when he touches down in Quito, Ecuador on Sunday to begin an seven-day tour of South America, including a contentious case involving a 10-year-old rape victim in Paraguay who has been refused access to an abortion.
The pope is sure to be asked by the Holy See’s traveling press corp to weigh in on the case – which has been condemned by human rights experts - as well as other issues that he has not spoken publicly about, such as the supreme court decision this month that legalised gay marriage across the US. 

 
The trip represents an opportunity for the pope to highlight the plight of the poor in the developing world. It also presents a chance for Francis to make a pitch for those who have strayed from the church in favour of evangelical movements and secularism. Last year, a report by the Pew Research Center found that the proportion of Latin America that is Catholic had dropped 25% since 1970.
“It’s a trip that falls in quite well with the papacy in the sense that he will be going to three countries with strong indigenous culture and a strong element of popular religiosity , which are two areas that Pope Francis empathises with,” says Jimmy Burns, a papal biographer.
He added that Francis is likely to find a less hostile environment among the leftist and populist political leaders in Ecuador and Bolivia than his conservative German predecessor might have.