Embed from Getty Images
via Vatican News:

“Indeed, the human person must always be defended and protected in his or her integrity and dignity, whatever his or her origin or social status,” the Pope told some 51 members of the Pro Petri Sedem Association, whom he received in the Vatican….

In the unbridled race for possession, career, honour or power, the Pope said that weak and the least are sometimes ignored and rejected.

“In the frenzy of running, of achieving everything right now,” he lamented, “anyone left behind is viewed as a nuisance.”  Hence the many elderly, the unborn, the disabled and poor people are considered a waste and useless.

This is the reason behind the Church’s preferential option for the poor and it relies on men and women of good will, imbued with the Gospel, to bring peace and joy of the Risen One to every person in need….

“The cry of anguish of people who suffer, especially from wars, displacement of people, poverty and degradation of the ecosystem, the Pope said is at the heart of their concerns.  “It is urgent,” he said, “to put an end to the exploitation of the poorest!” “It is urgent that the atrocities in countries prey to wars and conflicts that drive so many people into exile cease!”

Pope Francis particularly insisted “on caring for our common home”, launching once again the call for “ecological conversion”.