The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, has arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a five-day tour in his first visit to Latin America since he was installed two years ago.

|PIC1|Brazil is the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation, and Pope Benedict is expected to offer a series of open air Masses prior to joining a conference of Latin American bishops.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greeted the denominational leader upon his arrival at Sao Paulo's international airport.

The Pope said in Portuguese after his landing: "I extend my greetings to all the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in the words of the Apostle: 'Peace to all of you who are in Christ.'"

He then travelled to a monastery where he will stay during the visit.

Discussions are expected to focus on how the Roman Catholic Church can work alongside the growing evangelical groups in the country. The Pope explained that his major concern for South America was the Catholic Church's loss of millions of believers to the evangelical churches throughout the region.

Estimates indicate that more than 60 per cent of Brazilians belong to the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has lost around 10 per cent of its membership over the past decade while over the same period, Brazil has witnessed a great surge in converts to the evangelical Christian faith.

Abortion will be another hot topic of discussion, following the Church's dismay at Mexico's recent move to legalise the procedure.

It was reported that on the plane prior to his arrival, Pope Benedict seemingly backed the comments by Mexico City Church officials that politicians who supported the law and medical workers to perform abortions would be excommunicated.

"Do you agree with the excommunications given to legislators in Mexico City on the question?" a reporter asked.

"Yes," Pope Benedict replied. "The excommunication was not something arbitrary. It is part of the (canon law) code. It is based simply on the principle that the killing of an innocent human child is incompatible with going in Communion with the body of Christ. Thus, they (the bishops) didn't do anything new or anything surprising. Or arbitrary."

However, a Vatican spokesperson later clarified the Church's official stance on the issue, saying that the Church did not intend to excommunicate anyone, but that politicians by favouring abortion were in effect excluding themselves from Communion within the Church.