Catholics Hear Pope's Call to Shake up Church In the thick of his historic visit to Brazil this week, Pope Francis urged young Catholics to make a "mess" in their dioceses and break out of their spiritual cages. Francis' exhortation, spoken Thursday during a special meeting with Argentine faithful, won him acclaim as a renegade leader of the world's biggest church. But it also left many of his followers with their own interpretations of the pontiff's words about the need to shake up the church. Some said they thought Francis wanted them to object more forcefully when taught modern ideas that clash with church doctrine. Others said it meant hitting the streets and pushing for social change. "If in my biology class they speak about abortion, I should raise my hand and say I don't believe in that," said Maria Alejandrina de Dicindio, a 54-year-old Argentine catechism teacher who had traveled to Rio to see her pope, a fellow Argentine. The youth should open their mouths when it's their turn. For Mexican pilgrim Gilberto Amado Hernandez, the pope's message meant he should start showing off to the world Jesus Christ's message of love. "It's difficult to meet young people who want to get close to Christ," Amado said. We have to show them that faith is something beautiful. Francis himself didn't specify what to do, but he has displayed his own mold-breaking ways throughout this week's visit to Rio de Janeiro and rural Sao Paulo state, his first overseas trip as pope. The first pontiff from the Americas worried security officials by riding through massive crowds atop an open-sided popemobile rather than the fully enclosed, bulletproof vehicle his last two predecessors used. He's also ventured straight up to well-wishers to kiss babies and bless children and met privately Friday with juvenile offenders to provide counsel. While speaking to his fellow Argentines Thursday, Francis said Catholics should make a concerted effort to get outside their own worlds. "I want to see the church get closer to the people," he told them. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within ourselves, in our parishes, schools or structures, because these need to get out. His final message: "Don't forget: make trouble." In his own way, he lived those words as the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, before being selected as pope in March. Then known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future pope largely abandoned the kinds of luxuries favored by other high-ranking church officials. He rented out the archbishop's luxurious suburban mansion, living instead in a spartan room in a downtown church office building. He also rode subways and buses around town rather than keep a chauffeur. Francis' visit to a Rio slum on Thursday wasn't his first such venture. He made regular unescorted trips to dangerous slums as archbishop and saw to it that every major "misery village" in Buenos Aires had a chapel and a priest to spread the Lord's word. He also encouraged young people and the laity to take on leadership roles in parishes that were previously held by priests, so that church members would have much more say in what happens in their communities. Though the Catholic Church openly supported Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship, Francis later approved sainthood investigations for priests who were killed by the military government.