Many lives depend on you, Pope tells G20

Pope Francis wrote to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott before last weekend’s G20 summit in Brisbane that world leaders must not forget that many lives were at stake behind their discussions, writes Mark Brolly.

He cited severe malnutrition, a rise in the number of the unemployed and an increase in social exclusion “which can lead to criminal activity and even the recruitment of terrorists”.

The Pope, in his letter dated 6 November, also referred to “constant assaults on the natural environment, the result of unbridled consumerism” and the serious consequences this would have on the world economy.

He wrote that the whole world expected from the G20 an ever broader agreement that could lead, through the United Nations legal system, “to a definitive halt to the unjust aggression directed at different religious and ethnic groups, including minorities, in the Middle East”.

“It should also lead to eliminating the root causes of terrorism, which has reached proportions hitherto unimaginable; these include poverty, underdevelopment and exclusion. The solution ... must also focus on those who in one way or another encourage terrorist groups.”