Pope Francis has blasted an ethics-deprived world economy and its cult of a "god called money" during a day-long visit to the Italian island of Sardinia, one of the country's most deprived regions with the highest rate of unemployment.
"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," the Pope said on Sunday in a 20-minute improvised talk to workers and labour union officials.
Speaking in the capital city of Cagliari, where the youth unemployment rate is nearly 51 per cent, the Pope said the lack of work there was not just an Italian or European problem. "It is the consequence of a world choice, of an economic system that brings about this tragedy, an economic system that has at its centre an idol which is called money," he said to the cheers of the crowd.
"Work must be connected to the custody of creation, so that it's preserved responsibly for future generations," the Pope continued. "Ecological commitment itself is an occasion for new jobs in sectors connected to it, such as energy, the prevention and clean-up of various forms of pollution, vigilance regarding fires in the patrimony of forests, and so on," he said.
During his visit to the picturesque island, Francis also celebrated a large outdoor Mass overlooking Cagliari's coast and prayed in front of a statue of Our Lady of Bonaria, from which Francis' native city in Argentina - Buenos Aires - takes its name.
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