Pope Francis on Saturday urged Latin America's faithful to fight rampant violent crime against women including murder, while holding mass in Trujillo, Peru's largest northern city.

"I wish to invite you to combat a plague across our Latin American region: the numerous cases of violent crimes against women, from beatings to rape to murder," the visiting pontiff told thousands in Trujillo's main colonial-era square.

Half of the 25 countries with the greatest number of murders of women are in Latin America, according to UN Women.

In Argentina, the pope's homeland, there were at least 254 murders of women in 2016 that authorities think were gender-related, which helped spark the online campaign #NotOneMore murder.

"There are so many cases of violence that stay silenced behind so many walls," Francis said, arousing cheers from the crowd. "I'm calling on you to fight against this source of suffering including legislation and a culture that rejects every type of violence."

The visit is a change of pace after a politically charged first day in the South American country where the pope railed against "great business interests" for endangering the Amazon and its indigenous people.

On Friday, in the Peruvian city of Puerto Maldonado, he sounded a stark warning about the future of the rainforest and tribe members, saying they had "never been so threatened."

Pope Francis, 81, arrived Thursday afternoon in Peru, the second and last leg of a week-long South American visit.

During the first part of his visit, in Chile, Francis highlighted the plight of vulnerable immigrants, offered an apology to victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, prayed with survivors of Augusto Pinochet's brutal dictatorship, and called for protection of Chile's persecuted indigenous people.