The environment itself has rights, and mankind has no authority to abuse them, said Francis, who hopes to spur concrete commitments at the upcoming climate-change negotiations in Paris.
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“I feel many different emotions standing here at Ground Zero, where thousands of lives were taken in a senseless act of destruction”, Francis said.
The Pope spoke in Italian to more than 150 heads of state of the 70th General Assembly in New York City, this morning, the largest gathering of world leaders in history, and the biggest crowd of global elites any pope has addressed at once.
Pope Francis is in New York on a two day visit and will carry out a number of engagements including a Papal motorcade through Central Park and a Mass in Madison Square Garden.
Francis was greeted on his arrival at the U.N.by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a key supporter of his eco-friendly message.
‘Drug trafficking is by its very nature accompanied by trafficking in persons, money laundering, the arms trade, child exploitation and other forms of corruption, ‘ he said.
Among those in the audience for Francis’ speech was Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousefzai, the young Pakistani education campaigner who was shot and gravely wounded by the Taliban. Also on hand were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bill and Melinda Gates.
His is the first pontiff to visit the 9-11 Memorial.
Francis said the selfish pursuit of power and wealth is hurting the environment and the poor.
He called for immediate access for the world’s poor to adequate food, water and housing, as well as religious freedom.
He pointedly praised USA women who serve in religious orders during a Thursday night vespers prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, further closing a rift that opened after the Vatican questioned their fidelity to church teachings before he became pope.
But there is hope for them, and for everyone, Francis said. The Catholic Church has been on a campaign to denounce “gender theory” and the idea that people can choose their sex.
He warned in his United Nations speech against imposing Western liberal values on the rest of the world via “an ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles”.
Pope Francis led a memorial service at the site of the 2001 September 11 attacks yesterday.
He was expected to meet relatives of some of the almost 3,000 victims before heading belowground to the September 11 museum for an interfaith service.
De La Rosa showed his class videos of Pope Francis during his visit into the United States.
Later Friday, Pope Francis will take a quick spin through Central Park before visiting Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem on Friday.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power also noted her admiration of Francis on her Twitter page.
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The internationally negotiated Iran deal, the pope said, was “proof of the potential of political good will and of law, exercised with sincerity, patience and constancy”. He also urged the nation to abolish the death penalty, fight global warming and embrace immigrants. He’ll wrap up his day in New York with a mass before 20,000 individuals in attendance at MSG with the Pope Francis live streaming and TV coverage through various sources.
