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Pope Benedict Canonizes Saint, Blasts Hedonism NewsMax.com Wires SAO PAULO -- Pope Benedict gave Brazil its first native-born saint on Friday and called on Roman Catholics to spurn media portrayals of life that glamorize pre-marital sex and undermine the traditional family. The Pope said a mass for hundreds of thousands of joyful, flower-waving faithful to canonize Friar Antonio Galvao, a Franciscan who lived in the 18th century and founded an order of nuns. "The world needs transparent lives, clear souls, pure minds that refuse to be perceived as mere objects of pleasure," he said in his sermon on a military airfield outside Brazil's largest city on the third day of his first visit to Latin America. "It is necessary to oppose those elements of the media that ridicule the sanctity of marriage and virginity before marriage," he said to applause from the crowd. Faithful flocked to the open-air mass from across Brazil, the world's largest Catholic country, and elsewhere in Latin America. Many camped out overnight in chilly weather although the crowd was smaller than the more than one million people organizers had expected. Pope Benedict's canonization of Friar Galvao was an important part of his mission on this trip to revitalize the Church in Latin America, home to nearly half the world's 1.1 billion Catholics. Brazilians hoping for a miracle often swallow so-called Friar Galvao Pills, tiny pieces of rice paper with prayers written on them. Story Continues Below
He is considered a guardian of women in labor and the Vatican has attributed two miracles to him - the curing of a 4-year-old girl who was believed to have an incurable disease and the survival of a mother and child in a high-risk pregnancy. The mother, Sandra Grossi de Almeida, and her 7-year-old son Enzo went on the stage to hug the Pope during the canonization ceremony. Benedict praised Galvao for helping the poor and the sick, and for trying to be a peacemaker in his times. During his trip so far, the 80-year-old Pontiff has firmly reinforced the Church's opposition to abortion and called for a return to traditional family values. But in a country where sex outside marriage is common, birth control is widely used, and divorce is not frowned upon, his message has had a mixed reception. "This pope is a little too rigid, especially when it comes to issues like marriage," said Elisangela do Nascimento, 33-year-old divorced housewife from Sao Paulo in the crowd. The trip, his first to Latin America since he was elected two years ago, is also a test of the Pope's personal appeal as he tries to staunch the flow of followers away from the Catholic church to Protestant groups, a huge concern for the Vatican. A conservative theologian who has spent nearly 25 years of his life in the Vatican's corridors of power, some faithful have seen him as lacking the warmth and charisma that made his predecessor Pope John Paul so beloved. However, Vatican officials have insisted from the start of his Pontificate that Benedict is his own man and he appeared to be winning some hearts and minds. "We thought he was going to be a disappointment but he surprised us. People say he's authoritarian, but he's just a bit shy and sweet," said Lucilene Gutierres, a 21-year-old student, who spent the night at the airfield waiting to see him. Francisco Fortes, 60, said he was a direct descendent of Friar Galvao and lived in his hometown Guaratingueta. "This Pope has turned out to be a surprise. He seemed to be more reserved. But he's coming out of his shell here in Brazil," he said. The Pope will meet Brazilian bishops in Sao Paulo's Se Cathedral later on Friday and then travel to the holy shrine city of Aparecida, where he will deliver the opening address to a conference of Latin American and Caribbean bishops.
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