Pope Francis is visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay this week, three of the poorest nations in South America. In Ecuador, he addressed some of the environmental concerns raised in his new encyclical on climate change and called for more preservation of the Amazon rain forest. The president of Ecuador, whose popularity is sliding, has been pressing to clear more of it for development, but that didn’t keep him from cozying up to the Pope every chance he got. Above: zipping through the huge crowds in Quito. Francis has to stand up and hold onto the bar in the back of the Popemobile as he moves from place to place, and at 78 his stamina is a concern, but so far he is holding up well. (Jim Yardley/The New York Times)
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