PRESIDENT Violeta Chamorro warmly welcomed Pope John Paul II to Nicaragua yesterday, a day after a bomb damaged a chapel outside Managua in the 18th violent attack on Catholic Church property since May.
The bombing in Masaya, which caused no injuries, underscored concerns over John Paul II's 10 hour visit.
Earlier in Guatemala City the pope told crowds to fight the advance of "sects and religious groups that cause confusion and a reference to the growing popularity of Protestant evangelicals.
At Managua airport he said: "The message I bring you . . . is a message of peace."
"Our time is marked by a growing valuing of human dignity, by aspiration to a more just distribution of material wealth, and a political, social and economic order more in service to mankind," he said. "But these aspirations cannot be totally met outside God's law and basic ethical principles."
Between 70-80 per cent of all Nicaraguans live in poverty, and decorations for the visit were few and modest, with some homes decorated with flowers and a few banners.
Under clear and sunny skies, with a cool breeze in the air, Mrs Chamorro welcomed the pontiff at the airport, joined by Nicaragua's bishops and Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo.
Managua's international airport was totally closed to all non papal traffic at midnight, and was to remain so for 24 hours.
Authorities said some 700,000 were gathering for an open air Mass. Nicaragua has just over four million people. Tour buses crammed the capital coming in from outlying areas.
The cardinal said he hoped this visit would be happier than the Pope's last in 1983 when, during the Sandinsta government period, he was heckled at a Mass for his failure to condemn the UN backed Contras and his alleged humiliation of ministers.
At one road check yesterday, police detained a young man heading for the Mass carrying a loaded 22 calibre weapon, said the National Police Lieutenant,
Mr Jorge Gutierrez. But officials did not appear particularly concerned by the incident.
Six thousand Nicaraguan police, another 1,800 army troops and 5,000 civilian volunteers joined forces in an intricate operation to protect the Pope, said an army spokesman, Mr Milton Sandoval. A military helicopter was to overfly the bullet proof "Popemobile" that usually takes the Pope through the crowds.
Meanwhile in Caracas, authorities preparing for their papal visit this week combed the overcrowded prison which he is to bless searching for weapons. They found two guns and almost 400 handmade knives.