Hola, Holy Father! Thousands line the streets of Mexico City to witness the arrival of Pope Francis on his first papal visit

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A smiling Pope Francis has been greeted in Mexico City with a rock concert-like show, with a stage and bandstand waiting for him at the airport and thousands of people lining the city's streets waving yellow hankerchiefs, hoping for a glimpse of the Holy See. 

Mariachis serenaded as his chartered plane pulled to a stop and people shouted 'Brother Francis, you're already Mexican.'

President Enrique Pena Nieto, suffering the lowest approval ratings for a Mexican leader in a quarter century, and his wife met Francis on a red carpet as he deplaned.

The crowd roared as the three walked together, stopping to speak with four children in folk dress. Then the lights dimmed and the crowd waved lights as the official song composed for Francis' visit was performed. Men in broad sombreros and women in flowing red skirts danced on the tarmac.

Francis stepped to a group of children dressed in white offering blessings and placing his hand on top of each head.

It is the pope's first papal visit to Mexico, in which he wants to convey a message of solidarity with the victims of violence and communities stuck in poverty. 

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He has arrived: Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile upon his arrival in Mexico City on Friday night, ahead of a five-day visit 

Mighty welcome: Catholic faithful flocked to the streets of Mexico City in the thousands to greet Pope Francis on Friday night 

Catholic faithful line the roadside as they wait to greet Pope Francis on his arrival, outside the presidential hangar at Mexico City's airport

Big waves: Pope Francis greets people upon arrival to Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City on Friday February 12, 2016

History's first Latin American pope traveled to Mexico on Friday for a weeklong tour of some of the most violent, poverty-stricken and peripheral places in the Americas

Thousands gathered to see the pope on his first papal visit to Mexico. He wants to convey a message of solidarity with the victims of violence and communities stuck in poverty

Pope Francis rides past Catholic faithful in his popemobile after arriving in Mexico City after flying in from Cuba on Friday night 

The pope arrived at Mexico City's international airport from Havana, where he had an historic meeting with the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church.

Francis will tour Mexico, the most Catholic country in the Spanish-speaking world, through Wednesday. According to the most recent census, Mexico's percentage of Catholics has declined from 96 percent in 1970 to 83 percent in 2010.

Francis is scheduled to visit places most affected by poverty, violence and immigration. 

Upon arrival, a gust of wind blew the pope's hat from his head. He briefly donned a black sombrero before handing it back to its mariachi owner.

He then drove from the airport to the capital's south side in an open-air popemobile waving to the crowds lining the route. As planned, he did not make any public comments.

The motorcade paused at one point when a man appeared to get past security barriers and run toward the popemobile. 

The man was intercepted by security officials and the convoy moved on.

Security is tight outside the Vatican ambassador's residence in Mexico City, where the pope will stay for the next five days.

Welcome!: Pope Francis waves upon his arrival at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City on February night

The pope was greeted by a major reception from the second he touched down, with singers and dancers waiting to perform for him

Oops: As he stepped off the plane, a gust of wind blew off Francis' skullcap while he walked with President Enrique Pena Nieto and the first lady, Angelica Rivera 

Ole!: Pope Francis wears a traditional Mexican hat for a brief moment upon his arrival at Benito Juarez international airport

Pope Francis is welcomed by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (right) and first lady Angelica Rivera (left) upon his arrival

President Enrique Pena Nieto, suffering the lowest approval ratings for a Mexican leader in a quarter century, and his wife met Francis on a red carpet as he deplaned

Pope Francis greets children dressed in traditional Mexican outfits as he's escorted by Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, behind, and first lady Angelica Rivera

Pope Francis shakes greets Mexican children next to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto upon his arrival at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City

Pope Francis greets children next to Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto after his arrival in Mexico City on Friday night 

People stood outside huddled against the cold, some covered with blankets. 

Waiting for the pontiff to drive by Friday night, 85-year-old Carlos Garcia said he and other Mexicans loved Pope John Paul II and saw him multiple times during his five visits to Mexico. He said they are now ready for this visit by the first Latin American to be pope. 

In his words, 'Mexico really needs the pope's message.'

Lawyer Victor Lopez waited with a large silver cross around his neck. He said: 'The pope visits a wounded country that needs his words of encouragement.'

Rosaura Gutierrez staked out her spot early Friday morning and is looking forward to the pope's prayers and encouragement' for Mexico. She said her country has been 'massacred by people far from God.'

Pope Francis says his deepest desire for his trip to Mexico is to simply pray before the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Speaking to reporters en route to his first stop in Havana, Francis said he knew that the Virgin is beloved to Catholics and even those who are not.

'This mystery that they study, study, and there are no human explanations,' he said. 'The most scientific study says this is something of God. This is what I'll tell the Mexicans, even those who say 'I'm atheist but I'm a Guadalupeno.' — Then he corrected himself: 'Some Mexicans. Not all are atheists.'

Francis is now due to celebrate Mass in the Basilica of Guadalupe on Saturday evening. The trip to Mexico runs through Wednesday.

Preparations: A man holds a poster of Pope Francis in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas State, Mexico on Friday 

Excited: People await Pope Francis' arrival to Mexico City on February 12, 2016. Pope Francis will visit Mexico until February 17

A woman waves a blanket decorated with an image of Pope Francis along the route the pontiff will take upon arrival to Mexico City

A Catholic faithful holds a flag of Pope Francis before his arrival in Mexico City on February 12. Thousands gathered for the visit 

People wait along the route that Pope Francis will take from the airport to the Catholic Nunciatura in Mexico City on Friday 

Women show their blanket decorated with an image of Pope Francis and the Virgin of Guadalupe where they wait along the route the pontiff will take from the airport to the Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Mexico City

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis sent a message of condolences to the archbishop of Monterrey after 49 inmates died in a prison riot in the northern Mexican city.

Francis expresses profound sorrow over Thursday's violence and asks that his message be relayed to the victims' families. He also wishes those wounded in the melee a speedy recovery.

Mexican officials say the victims were bludgeoned, stabbed and hacked to death when feuding factions of the Zetas drug cartel clashed inside the Topo Chico prison.

Francis also had a brief stop in Cuba for a historic meeting with Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Historic: Pope Francis and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center left, meet at the Jose Marti aiport in Havana, Cuba, on Friday. It was the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity

The two  signed a joint declaration on religious unity after their historic meeting in Havana.

The declaration calls for peace in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine and urges Europe to 'maintain its faithfulness to its Christian roots.'

Before flying off to begin a five-day visit to Mexico, Francis said of his meeting with Kirill that 'we spoke clearly and directly. I greatly appreciate his desire for unity.'