Children greet Pope Francis upon his arrival at the airport in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday. The Pope is scheduled for a five-day visit.

BOGOTA, Colombia — Pope Francis received a spirited, symbol-filled welcome to Colombia on Wednesday as he began a five-day visit aimed at helping heal the wounds and divisions left by Latin America’s longest-running armed conflict.

The arriving pope was greeted at Bogota’s military air base by President Juan Manuel Santos and an orchestra mixing classics by Vivaldi and Beethoven with rhythmic cumbia music popular along Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

In a gesture likely to mark the deep symbolism of the trip, he was given a commemorative peace dove sculpted by an adolescent youth born in a jungle camp to a rebel father and a politician mother after she was taken captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in 2002. Clara Rojas, now a congresswoman, did not see her son again until 2008 when he was 3.

The first pope from Latin America smiled widely as he waved from the Popemobile to thousands of well-wishers who lined up for hours for a glimpse of the wildly popular pontiff along the 9-mile route from the airport to the Vatican’s embassy. Dozens of cellphone-snapping youth trailed the motorcade on bicycles while Francis greeted a few devotees with high-fives.

During his visit, Francis is expected to press Colombian leaders to address the social and economic disparities that fueled five decades of armed rebellion, while encouraging ordinary Colombians to balance their need for justice with forgiveness.

A year after the Colombian government signed the peace accord with the FARC, the nation remains bitterly divided over the terms of the deal even as guerrillas have laid down their arms and begun returning to civilian life.