RIO DE JANEIRO -- The streets surrounding the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian were filled with a sea of blue and white flags. The Argentines had come to town.
All without exception said they were there for one reason only. "To see Pope Francis," yelled Florencia Aldretes of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
Aldretes and 49 of her friends knew that they were so far down the line that chances were almost zero of getting into the cathedral, where the pope had asked to speak to his fellow Argentines July 25.