There is more to the size of the crowd than just numbers.
Associated Press ran a story of Pope Francis July 28 Copacabana mass that concluded his highly successful visit in Brazil. A native of Argentina, the Brazil visit that capped the 2014 World Youth day, was his first in Latin America.
Press reports, quoting official figures by Vatican, said the Copacabana mass was attended by three million.
The reports said, in the history of Papal visits, only the five million Philippine crowds at the Rizal park mass of Pope John Paul II in 1995 topped the number of assembled Catholics at the Copacabana beach.