Frenzied crowds of Roman Catholics mobbed the car carrying Pope Francis when he returned to his home continent for the first time as pontiff, embarking on a seven-day visit to Brazil.

A wrong turn sent a humble Fiat carrying Pope Francis into the thick of the Rio de Janeiro crowd yesterday, in his first minutes back in South America. It was a nightmare for security officials, but for the clearly delighted pope just another opportunity to connect.

But the jubilant scenes were marred by the shadow of violent anti-corruption protests, which saw police firing rubber bullets in a bid to disperse angry crowds outside the government's Guanabara Palace shortly after a welcoming ceremony for the pontiff ended.






Francis arrived at a tense time for Brazil, as the country reels from the demonstrations that began last month as a protest against public transport price hikes and mushroomed into a wave of protests against government corruption, inefficiency and spending for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics..

About an hour after the pontiff concluded his short speech at the government palace, police began cracking down on the protests, firing rubber bullets in an effort to disperse the crowd.

The government spent about $52 million for Francis' visit, but he does not appear to be a focus of protesters' rage.

'We've got nothing against the pope. Nobody here is against him,' said Christopher Creindel, a 22-year-old art student and Rio native protesting outside the government palace. 'This protest is against our politicians.'

Lombardi confirmed that a homemade explosive device was found Sunday by Brazilian authorities in a public toilet near the basilica at Aparecida, a Marian shrine that Francis will visit Wednesday.








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