At U.N., Pope rails against craving for wealth and power
By Philip Pullella and Scott Malone
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Friday condemned the craving for material gains and power, warning an annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations that greed is destroying the Earth's resources and aggravating poverty.
On his first trip to New York, the Argentine pontiff also prayed at the Sept. 11 memorial in perhaps the most poignant moment of his six-day visit to the United States.
Addressing dozens of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, the spiritual head of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics railed against the "grave offense" of economic and social exclusion.
"A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged," he said.
The first pope from Latin America, Francis has often criticized unbridled capitalism in the two years of his papacy.
On Friday, he had a high-powered audience at the United Nations, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary. This year's General Assembly is believed to have attracted the highest number of leaders in United Nations history.
The 78-year-old pontiff urged government leaders to ensure their people enjoy the minimum material needs. "In practical terms, this absolute minimum has three names: lodging, labor, and land," Francis said to applause.
He said humanity's future is in danger.
"The ecological crisis and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity can threaten the very existence of the human species," said Francis, who this year published the first papal encyclical, a letter to the church, dedicated to the environment.
In keeping with his reputation as a green pope, Francis has used a small Fiat car rather than a limousine to get around Washington and Manhattan this week.
'PALPABLE GRIEF'
He led an inter-religious prayer service at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked plane attacks by Islamist militants that brought down the World Trade Center.
"Here grief is palpable," Francis said, after viewing the reflecting pools that mark the footprints of the Twin Towers.
"In opposing every attempt to create a rigid uniformity, we can and must build unity on the basis of our diversity of languages, cultures and religions," Francis said, flanked by representatives of other religions in traditional dress or vestments.
It was the most solemn moment of his first trip to the United States where he has drawn joyous crowds including a cheering congregation at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral where he held evening prayers on Thursday.
Two years into his papacy, Francis has won the admiration of
many in the United States, with liberals captivated by his focus
on meeting the needs of the poor, immigrants and the homeless.
On his U.S. trip, he has also emphasized conservative values and Catholic teachings on the family.
He warned in his U.N. speech against imposing Western liberal values on the rest of the world via "an ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles."
Francis called on government leaders to fight human trafficking, ban nuclear arms and promote the education of girls.
Among those in the audience were Cuban President Raul Castro and Malala Yousafzai, the 18-year-old Pakistani campaigner for girls' rights to schooling.
Echoing concerns he expressed at the White House and Congress this week about the environment, Francis called for "fundamental and effective agreements" at climate change talks in Paris in December.
The prospects of a meaningful global climate pact in the French capital have been boosted by the news that China - one of the world's biggest polluters - will start a national carbon emissions trading market in 2017.
In Congress on Thursday, he urged lawmakers to help heal many of America's divisions such as the heated political debate over immigration.
Later Friday, he will visit a school in Harlem, ride through Central Park and celebrate Mass at Madison Square Garden before heading to a Catholic summit of families in Philadelphia for the weekend.
(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)
