Pope warns against influence of power and money

ITALY: Pope Benedict XVI warned against the influence of power and money as he celebrated mass Sunday before more than 80,000 people at the Italian naval shipyard of Ancona, where staff have been out of work for four months.

“The strength of power and economy” was not sufficient to sustain man, said the pontiff, who flew into the port of Ancona on the Adriatric coast by helicopter from his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. “Man often succumbs to the illusion of being able to transform stones into bread,” the pontiff said in his homily, adding that “certain ideologies tried to organise society with the force of power and the economy.”

A number of Italian politician attended the service as well as the chief executive of the naval construction firm Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, who reaffirmed his efforts to reopen the shipyard, which has been closed since May, “from the month of October thanks to an order for two naval ships,” he said.

The pope had lunch with a group of the laid-off workers, and told them: “The Church is very close to world of work, never forget that.”

Afterwards Benedict visited the cathedral in Ancone where he addressed married couples and priests on the theme of the family.

Ancona, Monday, AFP