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 pontiff battered by new revelations in the Catholic Church’s long-running sex abuse scandal.
The church’s mounting 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.