by Our Foreign Desk

POPE FRANCIS was greeted by huge crowds in Ecuador yesterday as he spoke out in defence of the poor and the environment.

The pontiff celebrated mass in the port city of Guayaquil in front of a crowd estimated at one million, dwarfing anti-government protests timed to coincide with his visit.

Argentinian Francis, the first Latin American pope, was on the first leg of a tour of three of the region’s poorest countries, with Bolivia and Paraguay completing the itinerary.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa met the Pope at Mariscal Sucre airport near the capital Quito on Sunday.

Mr Correa, who spoke before Francis, echoed the Pope’s concerns about the “perverse” global economic system, accusing the world’s rich countries of unfairly exploiting the developing world’s resources without reciprocating with technology transfers.

“Holy Father, the global order isn’t only unjust, it’s immoral,” he said.

The Pope thanked Mr Correa for his “consonance of thought.”

Speaking on the tarmac, Francis said: “From the peak of Chimborazo to the Pacific coast, from the Amazon rainforest to the Galapagos Islands, may you never lose the ability to thank God for what he has done and is doing for you.”

“May you never lose the ability to protect what is small and simple, to care for your children and your elderly who are the memory of your people, to have confidence in the young and to be constantly struck by the nobility of your people and the singular beauty of your country.”

Standing by Mr Correa’s side, Francis pledged that the Catholic Church’s readiness to encourage respect for peoples’ differences and foster “dialogue and full participation” so a better future can be ensured for all, particularly “the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters.”

A few opposition campaigners shouted: “Correa out!” along the route of the papal motorcade, but Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi said Francis was unworried about the protests against Mr Correa.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, which protested against mining and oil exploration in the Amazon last week, said it would take a 30-member delegation to one of the events on the tour.