The Pope canonized Friar Antonio Galvao, an 18th-century Franciscan, at a mass performed before hundreds of thousands of people in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Pope called on Catholic bishops and followers to reject the materialism and hedonism he sees as threatening the faithful worldwide.

"The world needs transparent lives, clear souls, pure minds that refuse to be perceived as mere objects of pleasure.

"It is necessary to oppose those elements of the media that ridicule the sanctity of marriage and virginity before marriage."

True to form, the Pope called abortions "crimes against life." He said the Catholic Church was making too many concessions to lawmakers on behalf of individual freedom and individual rights.

Brazil has upset the Vatican by handing out free condoms in an anti-AIDS effort. The health minister has also called for a national referendum on abortion.

The Pope is concerned that too many Catholics in Latin America are "defecting."

Recently, the Church has been hit by scandals involving sexual abuse by priests. The Pope, 80, reaffirmed that priests must be celibate and told bishops to screen candidates better "to avoid the risk of sexual deviation."

Making Galvao a saint is part of the Pope's mission to "revitalize" Catholicism in Latin America; nearly half of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics reside there.

Galvao started an order of nuns and is said to have performed many miracles in Brazil. Brazilian Catholics pray for his help in surmounting illness and many eat "Friar Galvao Pills," tiny bits of rice paper with prayers written on them.

The Pope's message about birth control and marriage got a mixed reaction from the crowd. In Brazil, sex outside marriage is common, birth control is widely used and divorce is accepted.

"This pope is a little too rigid, especially when it comes to issues like marriage," Elisangela do Nascimento, a 33-year-old divorced woman from Sao Paulo, said.

Lucilene Gutierres, a 21-year-old student who attended the mass, said: "We thought he was going to be a disappointment but he surprised us. People say he's authoritarian, but he's just a bit shy and sweet."

To me, not encouraging the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS is a "crime against life." But I guess I worry more about the people who are already here and suffering. War, poverty and not giving people medical care are crimes against life. The Catholic Church sees abortion as a sin against the sanctity of life. But what about the sanctity of life for the people who are already here in the world, like gay men and lesbians, who are not tolerated or accepted by the Church?