Many powerful people don't want peace, because they live off war.

We have begun a throw away culture. This tendency is seen on the level of individuals and whole societies; and it is being promoted! In circumstances like these, solidarity, which is the treasure of the poor, is often considered counterproductive, opposed to the logic of finance and the economy. While the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling.

I don't know how things stand in the thinking of the Italian parliament. The Pope doesn't get mixed up in Italian politics.

This culture of waste has made us insensitive even to the waste and disposal of food, which is even more despicable when all over the world, unfortunately, many individuals and families are suffering from hunger and malnutrition.

I wish everyone a wonderful World Cup, played in a spirit of true fraternity.

Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God's creation, made in his own image, destined to live for ever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.

Let the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.