Vatican City
AP
Pope Francis decried societies which rush indifferently past the poor, often judging them instead of helping them, as he celebrated Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Basilica attended by 2,000 indigent people.
During his homily, Francis also made an made the appeal against what he called “growing indifference” to the poor, who, he said, are often forced into poverty by injustice.
Pope Francis greets faithful at the end of a Mass on the Day of the Poor in St Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, on Sunday, 14th November Pope Francis is decrying society which “hurries past” the poor, judges them and leaves them to their fate. The pontiff on Sunday made the appeal against what he called “growing indifference” to the indigent as he celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Basilica attended by some 2,000 poor people and charity workers who assist them. PICTURE: AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia.
Francis has used his papacy since 2013 to draw attention to those living on society’s margins. The Catholic Church dedicated the day to the world’s poor.
“We are part of a history marked by tribulation, violence, suffering and injustice, ever awaiting a liberation that never seems to arrive,” Francis said. “Those who are most wounded, oppressed and even crushed, are the poor, the weakest links in the chain.”
He said by focusing on the poor the church “asks us not to turn aside, not to be afraid to take a close look at the suffering of those most vulnerable.”
The pontiff lamented the “poverty into which they are often forced, victims of injustice and the inequality of a throwaway society that hurries past without seeing them and without scruple abandons them to their fate.”
The pontiff didn’t specifically cite the impact of climate change on the poor, who could be forced to flee their homes due to droughts and floods.
But Francis added that “unless our hope translates into decisions and concrete gestures of concern, justice, solidarity and care for our common home, the sufferings of the poor will not be relieved, the economy of waste that forces them to live on the margins will not be converted, their expectations will not blossom anew.”
He encouraged people to improve the world by “breaking bread with the hungry, working for justice, lifting up the poor and restoring their dignity.”
Charity workers were among those invited to the Mass, along with those they assist.
Francis issued a plea to bring hope to the world through “tenderness to the poor, without judging them.”
Meanwhile, the Pope also urged political and economic leaders to show courage and long-range vision, hours after UN led-climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, ended in compromise on how to combat global warming.
Francis in remarks to the public in St Peter’s Square said the “cry of the poor, united to the cry of the Earth, resounded in the last days at the United Nations COP26 summit on climate change.”
“I encourage all those who have political and economic responsibilities to act immediately with courage and farsightedness,” he said. “At the same time, I invite all persons of good will to carry out active citizenry to care for the common house,” Francis said, referring to planet Earth.
The pontiff didn’t comment on the outcome of the two weeks of UN talks.
Nearly 200 nations agreed to a compromise deal aimed at keeping alive a global warming target. But a last-minute change diluted crucial language about the use of coal, a fossil fuel whose use is the biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Francis has made attention to the Earth’s environment a major plank of his papacy, dedicating an encyclical, or major document, to the moral imperative of responsibly protecting the planet.
