Pope Francis was set to leave
Ecuador Wednesday for Bolivia for the second stage of his
eight-day pastoral visit to South America which will also take
in Paraguay.
Before leaving Quito the pontiff will say farewell to the
papal nunciature in the Ecuadorian capital and travel to
Tumbaco, 21 km from Quito, where he will visit an old people's
home run by nuns from Mother Teresa's order.
The pope then was due to visit a shrine at Quinche, the
biggest Marian sanctuary in Ecuador, where he will meet the
clergy and seminarians of the country, and make a speech to
them.
Immediately afterwards at 11:45 am, Francis was due to
arrive at the Mariscal Sucre airport where a brief farewell
ceremony was to be held.
The pope then will fly for three hours and a quarter to
the Bolivian city of El Alto, the highest airport in the world,
where the altitude is 4,000 meters above sea level.
Both Frances and Bolivian President Evo Morales will
deliver speeches during an arrival ceremony after which the
pontiff will be driven toward La Paz.
The Jesuit pope was due to stop at the site where the body
of the Jesuit priest Fr Luis Espinal was found March 21, 1980,
after being abducted the previous day and tortured to death by
paramilitary gunmen following dictator Luis Garcia Meza during
one of the bloodiest periods of the history of Bolivia.
In the government palace in La Paz the pope will make a
visit to the president and then meet civil authorities in the
city cathedral.
Francis then was due to fly back to El Alto en route for
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a new economic centre of Bolivia, 400
metres above sea level, where the pope will stay at the
residence of Archbishop Emeritus Terrazas Sandoval during his
sojourn in Bolivia until Friday.
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