There's one last rally in Rio for Pope Francis, who is expected to draw millions of people for Mass today on the white sands of Copacabana beach.

Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile on his way to attend the Via Crucis on Copacabana Beach during World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile on his way to attend the Via Crucis on Copacabana Beach during World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
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Rapturous crowds have been the rule during the pope's visit to Brazil during the World Youth Day celebration.

A vigil on the beach last night drew a reported 3 million flag-waving, rosary-toting faithful, who overflowed Copacabana beach's 2.5 miles of white sand.

Rio's mayor estimates that Francis might draw another 3 million people today.

Yesterday's vigil capped a busy day for the pope in which he drove home a message he has emphasized throughout the week in speeches, homilies and off-the-cuff remarks: the need for Catholics, lay and religious, to shake up the status quo, get out of their stuffy sacristies and reach the faithful on the margins of society or risk losing them to rival churches.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

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