"I think of some benefactors of the Church that say 'take this offer for the Church,' and it is profit from the blood of those abused, treated as slaves, workers with poorly paid jobs," the pope said during his general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday.

"The people of God - that is, the Church - don't need dirty money. They need hearts that are open to God's mercy," said Pope Francis.

The pontiff said God wants people to turn away from evil and do what is just, not cover up their sins with gestures of sacrifice.

The pope said he would tell these donors to go away because God wants sinners "with purified hands" who have changed course, avoid evil and work for what is good and just, like aiding the oppressed and defending the weak.

"I am thinking of many, many refugees who are landing in Europe and don't know where to go," he said.

Pope Francis said the road to salvation isn't ritual sacrifice, which is condemned because, "instead of showing conversion, it claims to replace it."

Sources

CNS
AP/Crux
The Washington Post
Image: AP/The Washington Post

Dressed in his usual white cassock and skullcap, the Pope stood in a queue with the rest of the workers while waiting for his meal on July 25.

He chose a plate of pasta without sauce and cod with grilled tomatoes, plus a bottle of mineral water.

The Pope then sat with workers at a table, said grace and had his meal.

The canteen's chef Franco Pai'ini described the papal visit as "like a thunderbolt out of the blue".

Pope Francis asked workers about themselves and their work.

The Pope normally eats at the guesthouse where he lives.

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Addressing about 20,000 people, the pontiff said that his parents had "lost everything" after they emigrated from Italy and that he understood the suffering that came from joblessness.

"Where there is no work, there is no dignity," he said, in ad-libbed remarks after listening to three locals, including an unemployed worker who spoke of how joblessness "weakens the spirit."

But the problem went far beyond the Italian island, said the pope, who has called for wholesale reform of the financial system.

Pope Francis put aside his prepared text and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said, "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

The crowd of tens of thousands of people, in a square near the city port, chanted "work, work, work" at the gathering.

"This is not just a problem of Sardinia; it is not just a problem of Italy or of some countries in Europe," he said. "It is the consequence of a global choice, an economic system which leads to this tragedy; an economic system which has at its centre an idol called money."

Urging people not to give up hope even in the harsh economic climate, the pontiff also called on the people to fight back against the "throwaway culture" he said was a by-product of a global economic system that cared only about profit. It was, he said, a culture that saw the most vulnerable society become marginalised.

Sources

The Guardian

The Telegraph

The London Free Press

Image: EPA/The Guardian