Rome, Italy, Oct 2, 2013 / 12:39 pm
In a recent interview, Pope Francis shared his vision of a poor, missionary Church that dialogues with the world and serves the needs of the people, as well as his hope for a Roman Curia that is less "Vatican-centric."
"The most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days are youth unemployment and the loneliness of the old," he said. "The old need care and companionship; the young need work and hope but have neither one nor the other…This, to me, is the most urgent problem that the Church is facing."
He encouraged a greater awareness of this problem among Church members as well governments and other state actors, and he stressed the need for the selfless love of agape that seeks to serve others.
The Holy Father spoke with atheist journalist Eugenio Scalfari in a Sept. 24 interview at his Vatican residence, which was published Oct 1. in the Italian daily La Repubblica.