Pope Francis who is currently in Kenya has put the country's wealthy populace on a blast for impoverishing the poor.
Pope Francis in Kenya
Pope Francis lashed out at wealthy minorities who hoard resources at the expense of the poor as he visited a crowded Nairobi slum, Kangemi, on Friday, wrapping up the first-leg of a three nation tour.
According to AFP, the 78-year-old pontiff was given a rapturous welcome as he arrived in Kangemi, which is home to more than 100,000 people who live in shacks without sewerage, including 20,000 who belong to the local Catholic parish.
Speaking to crowds who had gathered to listen to him at the local church, the Pope said: “These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and run-down peripheries.”
He condemned what he called the “dreadful injustice of urban exclusion.”
He said: “I am here because I want you to know that I am not indifferent to your joys and hopes, your troubles and your sorrows,” Francis told the packed congregation at the church of St Joseph the Worker.
“I realise the difficulties which you experience daily. How can I not denounce the injustices which you suffer?”
Francis criticised the lack of “infrastructures and basic services”, including sewerage, electricity, good roads, school and hospitals in a key address just hours before he leaves for Uganda and the Central African Republic.
He added that: “They are a consequence of new forms of colonialism… countries are frequently pressured to adopt policies typical of the culture of waste.”