MERCO PRESS
Society cannot ignore people, the pope said, “no matter how little they possess or seem capable of contributing.”
Pope Francis, a champion of the poor and social justice, on Thursday called on a million faithful to reject today’s consumer society, at an open-air mass in Bolivia. On the second stop of his three-nation tour of South America, the pope addressed the throng in the vast Christ the Redeemer Plaza in Santa Cruz, including many people who camped out overnight to see him.
He denounced what he called a “mentality in which everything has a price, everything can be bought, everything is negotiable. This way of thinking has room only for a select few.”
“Jesus speaks these words to us, here in this square. No one has to be discarded,” the pontiff told the crowd, estimated by Bolivian authorities at one million strong.
Society cannot ignore people, the pope said, “no matter how little they possess or seem capable of contributing.”
The two-hour service featured religious hymns and chants. Hundreds of musicians also played Baroque works, introduced by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 18th century and still very popular in this country.
Thousands in the crowd were from Bolivia’s indigenous majority: Quechua, Guarani and Aymara Indians. Ten of thousands Argentines from the northern provinces also attended. President Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous leader, was in the front row.
Around the plaza, dominated by the giant bronze Christ the Redeemer statue, big-screen TVs were erected for people to watch the religious service.
Since his election in 2013, Francis, who hails from Argentina and is also the first Jesuit pope, has indeed shown himself to have a down-to-earth air about him, and that is ringing clear in Santa Cruz.
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