The pope returned to giving his public catechesis outside in Saint Peter's Square. Even though the morning was cold and cloudy, the joy of the pilgrims filled the square with warmth.
The pope wished to affectionately greet these sick people before denouncing that man's unbridled voracity can destroy the world that God has entrusted him to protect.
POPE FRANCIS
'When human pride explodes, it destroys and exploits nature. Think of water. Water is something precious and very important. Water gives life; it helps us in everything. But to exploit the minerals, which leads to the contamination of water, then messes up the environment and creation is destroyed! This is just an example. There are many more.'
He noted other examples such as war and hunger, using the case of South Sudan, which is another example of destruction caused by humans.
POPE FRANCIS
'The painful news coming from battered South Sudan provokes a serious concern; where fratricidal conflict is combined with a grave food crisis that affects the Horn of Africa and condemns millions of people to death due to hunger.'
However, Pope Francis also sent a message of hope, recalling that everything man has destroyed can be healed by God, beginning with the deepest wounds, those of the heart. The General Audience ended in smiles thanks to the acrobatics of the Rony Roller Circus. The pope again thanked them for their work, because they are specialists in making beauty; and beauty, he concluded, leads to God.
