Explosive Found at Shrine Pope Francis Will Visit on Brazil Tour

A homemade explosive device was found July 21 in a parking garage at the site of the Brazilian shrine Pope Francis will visit this week while in Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day 2013.

According to AFP, the Sao Paulo military said the explosive, discovered in a bathroom of the garage at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, was destroyed once it was found. Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the shrine, located between Rio and Sao Paulo, on July 24.

A Sao Paulo military police spokesman said that the device, discovered during a security training session, was “insignificant, of low power,” and it was not in an area where either the pope or pilgrims were expected to go.

Approximately 5,000 security forces have been engaged for Pope Francis’s visit to Aparecida. This is the pontiff’s first visit to his native South America since he was elected pope in March.