Pope says Church should rid itself of 'worldliness'

Pope Francis on Friday called for the Catholic Church and its faithful to rid themselves of earthly concerns like St Francis of Assisi during a pilgrimage to the saint's Italian hometown.

Speaking in the hall where the medieval saint is said to have taken off his robes in a gesture of humility, Francis said the Church should also "divest" itself and return to spiritual basics.

"The Church, all of us should divest ourselves of worldliness," a visibly emotional pope said, adding: "Worldliness is a murderer because it kills souls, kills people, kills the Church."

"Without divesting ourselves, we would become pastry shop Christians, like beautiful cakes and sweet things but not real Christians," he said.

The Argentine pope also referred to the migrant shipwreck tragedy off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday in which 111 people are confirmed to have died and scores more are missing.

The world "does not care about the many people fleeing slavery, hunger, fleeing in search of freedom. And how many of them die as happened yesterday! Today is a day of tears," he said.

"Let us hear the cry of those who weep, suffer or die because of violence, terrorism or war in the holy land Saint Francis loved so much, in Syria, in the entire Middle East, in the world," the pope said in his homily.

The pope became the first to adopt the name of St Francis when he was elected in March, saying he was inspired by the saint's humility and his teachings on peace and protecting God's creation.

On his visit, the pope met with many poor and disabled people being aided by Catholic charities.
He told a group of handicapped children that their "wounds need to be listened to and recognised".

In an address to the poor, he said: "Many of you have been stripped down by this savage world that does not give jobs, that does not help that does not care about children dying of hunger."