VATICAN CITY, May 18: Pope Francis toured St Peter’s Square to greet tens of thousands of people attending a rally of prayer, music and speeches on Saturday, and he embraced the brother of a Pakistani politician who was assassinated after calling for greater religious freedom for Christians.

Riding in an open-topped white jeep, Francis zipped through the square to greet the faithful who had been waiting for hours for his arrival at the evening rally designed to encourage Catholics to strengthen their faith.

The Vatican estimated the crowd at 200,000.

Francis also embraced Paul Bhatti, a speaker at the rally. His brother Shahbaz, a Pakistani government minister, was assassinated in 2011 after urging reform of the blasphemy laws.—AP