Pope Francis, flanked by Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, greets children upon his arrival at Quito Airport in Ecuador. Francis travels to the port of Guayaquil today for a Mass expected to draw more than 1 million people.

QUITO, Ecuador — Pope Francis travels to the Ecuadorean port of Guayaquil today for a Mass expected to draw more than 1 million people, as Latin America’s first pontiff tours his home continent with a message of compassion for the weak and respect for an ailing planet.

Francis is taking it relatively easy on his first full day in Ecuador, making the quick flight to Guayaquil for the Mass at the Shrine of the Divine Mercy and then a lunch with a group of fellow Jesuits.

The highlight of the encounter will likely be his reunion with the Rev. Francisco Cortes, a Jesuit affectionately known as “Padre Paquito,” to whom the Argentina-born pope, then the Rev. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, entrusted his seminarians on study trips to Ecuador years ago.

In a recent interview, Cortes couldn’t fathom that Bergoglio remembered him, much less made a point of coming to have lunch.

“I don’t know what to ask him,” the soon-to-be 91-year-old Cortes said. “He said he wanted to see me and I’m amazed that he’s coming. For the first time, I have known a pope.”

The “pope of the poor” returned to Spanish-speaking South America for the first time as pontiff Sunday, stressing the need to protect the needy and the environment from exploitation and to foster dialogue among all sectors of society.

Francis’ only other trip back to his home ground after being elected pope was in 2013, when he visited Brazil, where Portuguese is the main language.

Children in native dress greeted Francis at Mariscal Sucre airport outside Ecuador’s capital following his flight from Rome.

In a speech in front of President Rafael Correa, Francis signaled some key themes for the visit, which also takes him to Bolivia and Paraguay.

“From the peak of Chimborazo to the Pacific coast, from the Amazon rain forest to the Galápagos Islands, may you never lose the ability to thank God for what he has done and is doing for you,” he said. “May you never lose the ability to protect what is small and simple, to care for your children and your elderly who are the memory of your people, to have confidence in the young and to be constantly struck by the nobility of your people and the singular beauty of your country.”