Asunción, Paraguay, Dec 10, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Catholics throughout Latin America gathered in great numbers to mark the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, with more than a million gathering in Paraguay and over 600,000 in Chile.
45 kilometers east of the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion more than one million people gathered to celebrate the solemnity at the Shrine of Our Lady of Caacupe, the patroness of Paraguay.
Police and public service officials were out in full force to provide security and sanitation service for the large crowds that attended Masses at the Shrine.
In Chile more than 600,000 people participated in the traditional pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception located southeast of the city of Valparaiso.