Francis tells Catholic clergy, leaders to stop being so 'obsessed' with power

Pope Francis demanded an end to economic exploitation and to clerics who were "obsessed" with power, during a meeting with workers of the Catholic Church in Florence, Italy.

Speaking to hundreds of Italian cardinals, bishops and laypeople attending a national congress held once a decade, in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Pope Francis said: "These times of ours demand that we experience problems as challenges and not like obstacles: The Lord is active and at work in the world.

"We must not be obsessed with power ... otherwise the church "loses its way, loses its meaning".

Reading animatedly from his written remarks underneath the famous Il Duomo - the largest brick built dome in the world and one of the site that attracts 16 million people to Florence every year, the Pope also found moments to offer a bit of humour, like when warning church leaders against various temptations.

"I'll present at least two" temptations, but not a huge list of 15 like he spelled out in a memorable pre-Christmas address to the Roman Curia in 2014, he said to applause and laughter in the pews.

Do not feel superior and place complete trust in structures and perfect plans, he said. This focus on the abstract and on security "often leads us to take on a style of control, harshness, regulation".

In a nod to his attempts to moderate the Catholic Church he warned: "When facing evils or problems in the church it is useless to seek solutions in conservatism and fundamentalism, in the restoration of outdated conduct and forms" that are no longer culturally relevant or meaningful.

Christian doctrine, in fact, isn't a closed system void of questions or doubts, but is alive, restless, animated. Its face "isn't rigid, its body moves and develops, it has tender flesh. Its name is Jesus Christ."

Pope Francis speaks from the cathedral balcony in Florence to young people and foreign workers (PA)

He also told priests and bishops to be shepherds, "nothing more. Shepherds." To illustrate what that looked like, the Pope told a story of a bishop who was riding the subway during rush hour.

It was so packed, there was nothing to hold on to, and "pushed right and left" by the swaying car, the bishop leaned on the people around him so as not to fall. A bishop will find support, he said, by leaning on his people and through prayer, he said.

"I like a restless church in Italy, ever close to the abandoned, the forgotten, the imperfect," Francis added. "I want a happy church with the face of a mother, who understands, accompanies, caresses. Dream for this church, too, believe in this, innovate with freedom." The Pope flew by helicopter from Rome early in the morning to land first in the industrial town of Prato on the outskirts of Florence. In the town's cathedral, he venerated the Holy Belt of Our Lady - an ancient band of wool traditionally believed to have belonged to Mary and used to wrap her flowing robes around her waist.

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From the cathedral balcony, he greeted thousands of people and, addressing the young and foreign workers, he criticised the "cancer" of corruption and exploitation, calling it the "venom" of a culture built on operating outside the law.

To cheers and applause, he urged young people and workers to fight to the very roots of the problem of "the cancer of corruption" and "the cancer of human and worker exploitation".