Pope hailed on his first stop in tour of Baltics

VILNIUS, Lithuania — Tens of thousands of Lithuanians lined the narrow streets of the Old Town of Vilnius and cheered Saturday as Pope Francis’ popemobile passed by, an exuberant greeting that must have been welcome to a pope battered by new revelations in the Catholic Church’s long-running sex abuse scandal.

The church’s credibility crisis was nowhere to be seen or heard on Vilnius’ streets, which were filled with Lithuanians and Poles who arrived by the busload to welcome Francis as he kicked off a four-day visit to three Baltic countries concerned about neighboring Russia.

Francis was traveling to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to mark their 100th anniversaries of independence and to encourage the faith in the Baltics, which saw five decades of Soviet-imposed religious repression and state-sponsored atheism. In addition, during the 1940s Nazi occupation, Lithuania’s centuries-old Jewish community was nearly exterminated.

Speaking outside the Vilnius presidential palace upon his arrival, Francis recalled that until the imposition of “totalitarian ideologies” in the 20th century, Lithuania had peacefully been home to a variety of ethnic and religious groups, including Christians, Jews and Muslims.

He said the world today is marked by political forces that exploit fear to justify violence and intolerance of others, “proclaiming that the only way possible to guarantee security and the continued existence of a culture is to try to eliminate, cancel or expel others.”

In a reference to the spread of anti-immigrant, populist forces in Europe and beyond, Francis said Lithuania could be a model of openness, understanding and tolerance.

“You have suffered ‘in the flesh’ those efforts to impose a single model that would annul differences under the pretense of believing that the privileges of a few are more important than the dignity of others or the common good,” he said.

Mindaugas Kulbis The Associated Press Pope Francis reaches out to greet a child during his meeting with youths Saturday in Vilnius, Lithuania.