Pope Francis on Wednesday held a holy mass before a huge crowd amid his visit to Myanmar, calling on its Catholics to offer assistance and solidarity to poor and suffering people regardless of ethnic or religious background.

Speaking before the crowd of around 150,000 people at a sports ground in Yangon, the country's biggest city, the head of the Roman Catholic church said he is aware that many in Myanmar bear both visible and invisible "wounds of violence."

He urged people to respond to transgressions with forgiveness and compassion, not hatred and revenge. "The way of revenge is not the way of Jesus," he added.

The pope arrived in Myanmar on Monday in a historic four-day visit, the first ever by the Holy Father to the country, which counts over 670,000 Catholics among population of 51 million people.

It comes amid mounting international pressure on its government over the dire situation in Rakhine, from which more than 620,000 members of the persecuted, stateless Rohingya community have fled since late August to escape violence that has been described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing.

Peter Zaumai, 40, a Catholic member of the Kachin ethnic minority group, who made a two-day journey by train to Yangon from the country's northernmost state of Kachin with his family to attend the holy mass, said they were so happy to see the pope.

"I have never imagined I would get his opportunity in my life. We received blessing from him and I hope our country would become more peaceful because of his blessing," he said.

The Pope also met with the top Buddhist monk in the country Wednesday evening, which he described as "an opportunity for us to affirm a commitment to peace, respect for human dignity and justice for every man and woman."

"The great challenge of our day is to help people be open to the transcendent, to be able to look deep within and to know themselves in such a way as to see their interconnectedness with all people, to realize that we cannot be isolated from one another," he told Bhaddanta Kumarabhivamsa, head of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee.

"If we are to be united, as is our purpose, we need to surmount all forms of misunderstanding, intolerance, prejudice and hatred."

On Tuesday in the capital Naypyitaw, about 400 kilometers north from Yangon, the Pope met with Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and discussed the plight of the Rohingya Muslims, among other issues, and appealed for greater tolerance and respect for minority ethnic and religious groups.

In a speech to diplomats and civil servants following his meeting with Suu Kyi on Tuesday evening, he called, without referring specifically to the Rohingya, for "peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity, respect for the rule of law and respect for a democratic order that enables each individual and every group -- none excluded -- to offer its legitimate contribution to the common good."

The pope said Myanmar's different religions, "by drawing on deeply held values...can help us to uproot the causes of conflict, build bridges of dialogue, seek justice and be a prophetic voice for all who suffer."

On Monday, shortly after his arrival, the pope stressed the importance of religious freedom in a meeting with Myanmar's military chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, whose security forces are accused of committing atrocities against the Rohingya community.

He is scheduled to leave Myanmar for Bangladesh on Thursday, after leading a holy mass with the country's youth at the St. Mary's Cathedral in Yangon the same morning.