400,000 Pilgrims Flood Copacabana Beach for Religious Gathering, Bomb Found in Shrine Ahead of Pope's Visit

Approximately, 400,000 Christian pilgrims found a way to get to Rio's Copacabana beach despite a faulty cable disrupting the local Metro for hours.

"With the metro being the only way for people to get to Copacabana beach from the city, the power out led to a traffic blockade preventing people from taking part in the city," reports Fox News.

The Archbishop of Rio, Orani Tempesta, led the students at the beach in a preparatory mass ahead of the religious events leading up to the Roman Catholic Youth Festival.

The failure of the Metro system follows incidents where the Pope was touched by people on the streets while travelling in an open car, said security officials.

Taking a day off from his busy schedule on Monday, Pope Francis tweeted "Dear young friends, Christ has confidence in you and he entrusts his own mission to you: Go and make disciples," ABC News reports.

The crowds in the city chanted, "This is the pope's youth."

The celebration of the Youth Festival will be another test for Brazilians, poised to host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games are slated to be held in 2016.

Charges of corruption and the unacceptable state of public services contributed to massive riots during the confederation cup last month. The tournament is believed to be a precursor to the World Cup.

The Youth Festival will host 1.5 million people from about 170 countries.

In a related story, a home-made bomb was found at a shrine that the Pope will visit on Wednesday, Our Lady of Our Aparecida, located between Rio and Sao Paolo. The Brazilian military have destroyed the bomb and they are not certain if the bomb is related to the papal visit.