Security raised to`high risk’ for pope in Brazil

0 0
Spread the love
Read Time:1 Minute, 48 Second
POPE
 
Rio De Janiero (CNN)– The papal visit is now classified as the highest level of security after an incident involving his motorcade.
 
The Pope's visit has been raised to "high risk" from "medium risk" after his car got stuck in a crowd of enthusiastic followers on Monday, a Brazilian Federal official told CNN.
 
The source says the problem in part stemmed from the Pope himself instructing drivers not to avoid the crowds.
 
After the pope arrived in Brazil on Monday he got into a silver hatchback Fiat for the drive from the airport to downtown Rio. Transportation officials in Rio said there were a variety of routes the pontiff's motorcade could have taken. The route they chose ended up pinning the pope's vehicle between a bus and a crush of well wishers who were reaching into the car to touch the pope.
 
Security officials in Rio huddled for much of the day on Tuesday sorting out how to resolve the incident.
 
Federal authorities are now taking a larger role in the overall security of the pope during his time in Brazil. More reinforcements are coming for security from Rio.
 
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the globe have come to Rio de Janiero for World Youth Day, a week long festival held every two years.
 
The Vatican told reporters Tuesday night that 500,000 people came to Copacabana beach for the opening ceremony and Mass. Crowds stretched down the beach more than a half a mile from the main stage.
 
On Tuesday, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia told National Catholic Reporter that the group of pilgrims from his archdiocese is small because of security concerns.
 
"I think there's been a sense across Pennsylvania," he told NRC while in Rio, "that this might be a dangerous place for young people to come."
 
"I know that a number of dioceses in Pennsylvania actively discouraged their young people from coming and didn't sponsor diocesan pilgrimages on purpose," he said.
Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Facebook Comments

Previous post NIGERIA: Lagos dumps 70 beggars, others in Onitsha
Next post 10 Young African Millionaires,Two Nigerians make Forbes list

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.