Pope Francis has advised Kenyan young people to resist the temptations of corruption which affects all aspects of life, and is present in the Vatican.
Francis said corruption is not only present in politics but almost everywhere, including the institution he leads.
“Even in the Vatican there are cases of corruption,” he said.
Francis’s comments came in response to a question from two young Kenyans
“Corruption is something that gets inside of us, it’s like sugar,” Francis said.
“But it ends badly. When we have too much sugar, we end up with diabetes, or our country ends up being diabetic.”
“Every time we accept a bribe and we put it in our pocket, we destroy our hearts, our personalities, and our country,” he said.
The Pontiff then directly addressed those engaged in corruption, though he did not mention anyone by name.
The money they steal, he said, won’t follow them to the grave, adding that after they’re gone, all that is left are “the hearts wounded by these examples” as well as starving children who have no food because it was stolen.
“Corruption is a path to death,” Francis said.
Kenya ranks 145 out of 174 countries in the Transparency International 2014 index.
Recently, the country’s president was forced to fire several cabinet ministers on corruption charges.
Answering a series of questions posed to him at the Kasarani stadium in Nairobi, Francis also warned against tribalism and said a lack of education and jobs was fuelling radicalisation.
While visiting a Nairobi slum, Pope Francis launched a blistering attack on “new forms of colonialism” that exacerbate the “dreadful injustice of urban exclusion”.
Earlier, at a United Nations office in Nairobi, the Pope said a failure by world leaders to confront climate change in a meeting in Paris would be a catastrophe.
Speaking to priests, religious and seminarians in Kenya, the Pope criticised indifference and said a person without prayer is as ugly as a dried fig.
Anyone who does not think he or she can live a life of poverty, chastity and obedience should leave and start a family, he added.
Sources
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