Pope urges to reject consumerism at mass in Bolivia
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Pope Francis, a champion of the poor and social justice, called on the faithful to reject today's consumer society at a huge open-air mass Thursday in Bolivia, South America's poorest nation.
On the second stop of his three-nation tour of South America, the pope addressed a throng in the vast Christ the Redeemer Plaza in Santa Cruz, including many people who camped out over night 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 78-year-old pontiff, the first pope from Latin America, told the faithful.
Society cannot ignore people, the pope said, "no matter how little they possess or seem capable of contributing."
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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