Pope Benedict XVI has conducted an open air mass for 130,000 worshippers in the Czech city of Brno. Thousands of people from neighbouring countries also attended.

During the mass, Pope Benedict called on the Czech population to return to the Roman Catholic Church and to Christian traditions, so they could free themselves from the heavy burdens of the past.

Due to centuries of religious wars and decades of Communist repression, the Czech Republic has become one of the most secular countries in the world. Barely one third of the population is Catholic; 50 percent of the inhabitants say they are atheists.

The three-day papal visit comes on the eve of the commemoration of the 1989 ‘Velvet Revolution,’ which brought an end to Communism in what was then Czechoslovakia.

Pope Benedict will leave the country on Monday. Before doing so, he will visit the town of Stará Boleslav, one of the oldest places of pilgrimage in central Europe.

Photo by ANP/EPA