Pope Francis visits 9/11 memorial

The poor fare worst because they are “forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the abuse of the environment”, he said.He appealed for peace around the world and made his latest plea for the protection of Christians, as well as others, persecuted by extremists in Syria and Iraq.The Pope offered a strong endorsement of Iran’s agreement with the United States and five other world powers to limit its nuclear programme, a day after Francis spoke to the US Congress, where many legislators vehemently oppose the deal.

Before the Mass at Madison Square Garden, Pope Francis embarked on the most public part of his New York visit, a processional drive through Central Park.

The visit posed huge logistical and security challenges, and many streets were closed off. At the United Nations, hundreds of police officers and Secret Service agents were on duty, backed by bomb-sniffing dogs and police boats.

‘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.

He demanded immediate access for the world’s poor to adequate food, water and housing, saying they have the right to lodging, labor and land.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bill and Melinda Gates and Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousefzai were among those in the audience.

During an interfaith prayer service at Ground Zero on September 25, Pope Francis remarked that “grief is palpable” at the site of the terrorist attack on New York.

Francis prayed silently and laid a white rose at the edge of one of the pools, inscribed with the names of the almost 3,000 people killed in the attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field, as well as in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

People wait for the arrival of Pope Francis at the September 11…

“I feel close and connected to my brothers because he’s here”.

As he did in Washington, Francis received an enthusiastic welcome to New York on Thursday.

Holding hands and tenderly patting heads, the Argentine pontiff toured the classroom chatting in Spanish, before meeting with a group of migrant workers and their families who presented him with gifts including a book pulling together their diverse life stories, and a set of tools on behalf of the Big Apple’s army of day labourers.

Francis, who was selected as pope in 2013, has an avid following even among non-Catholics for his embrace of causes such as climate change and his reform-minded approach to social issues.

Francis is slated to celebrate Mass in Madison Square Garden, home to sporting events, concerts and other shows.

On Saturday morning, the pope flies to Philadelphia for a big Vatican-sponsored rally for Catholic families. Held once every three years, the gathering will include an outdoor papal Mass on Sunday expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands.

Francis did not make such a condemnation during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly. “To you, religious women, sisters and mothers of these people, I wish to say thank you”, he said.

At the United Nations, he warned against imposing Western liberal values on the rest of the world via “an ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles which are alien to people’s identity”. Ban praised Francis for his moral leadership.