Telesur.png Pope Critical of Capitalism: 'This Empire Throws Away the Young' Telesur, Venezuela, 20 September 2015 After holding a private meeting with the Cuban president, the Catholic head had strong words for capitalistic greed, urging the world to support the poor and value labor. Pope Francis gave a speech searing into the ills of Western capitalism on Sunday following a meeting with President Raul Castro in Cuba. During his speech at the Cathedral of Havana, the pope criticized the culture imposed by capitalism, which worships money and discards anything and anyone that is not lucrative. "This discarding culture is bad for everyone, it takes away our hope," he added. fidel_and_pope.jpg_1718483346.jpg Pope Francis and Fidel Castro, 20 September 2015 To illustrate his criticism, the Pontiff used youth unemployment in Europe (40 percent for people aged 25 and younger) as an example of the discarding culture. "A people who are not concerned about giving work to young people, has no future. Young people become part of the throw away culture in this empire and we all know that this empire of the money throws away things and throws away people," he said. "(They) discard the youngest because they don't want them, even before birth. And they discard the elderly because they cannot produce anymore," added the pope. The pope also focused on the role that the Catholic Church had to play, and its natural commitment to the poor. "Our Holy Mother Church is poor, God wants it to be poor, as he wanted our Holy Mother Mary to be," he said. Furthermore, he urged priests to protect the most fragile members of society and to be flexible and forgiving with sinners. "Do not get tired of forgiving, be forgivers, as Jesus was. Do not hide behind fear and rigid attitudes . brother priests and bishops, do not fear mercy, let it flow...don't forget that in poverty and mercy is Jesus," he added. Later in the evening, Francis visited the Felix Varela Cultural Center, where he was greeted by crowds of Cuban youth. The pope based his message in the need of building bridges and understanding amongst people with different views. He highlighted the dangers of hostility between people and urged Cubans to unite despite their differences. "A family, a country, the world is destroyed by hostility and hostility is bigger than war," Francis said. But he highlighted the importance of hope and dreams for young people in today's world. "Within the objectives of life, one should include the ability to dream" Far from being optimistic, the Pontiff explained that hope is much more than wishing for the best. "Hope is something else. Hope is suffered. Hope is able to suffer to bring about a project...the path of hope is not easy, and cannot be traveled alone," the pope explained. Hundreds of young Cubans cheered as Pope Francis parted from the stage, asking them - as he usually does - to pray for him and wish him well. Earlier, following, his historic mass at Havana's Revolution Square, Pope Francis held a private meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro Sunday The head of the Catholic Church and the head of state together with the Council of Ministers spoke for over an hour behind closed doors. According to the Vatican press agency, the pope thanked Raul Castro for including quotes from the pope during his welcoming speech on Saturday at the Jose Marti airport in Havana. He also thanked the pardon he issued for over 3,000 inmates, as a gesture ahead of the pope's visit. President Castro gave Francis an image of the Cobre Virgin of Charity, the patron of Cuba, and a large-scale crucifix as a gift after the meeting. From: <http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Pope-Critical-of-Capitalism-This-Empi re-Throws-Away-the-Young-20150920-0019.html> http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Pope-Critical-of-Capitalism-This-Empir e-Throws-Away-the-Young-20150920-0019.html -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
