Pope Francis has encouraged young people to make the world, battered by intertwined problems such as the climate crisis, wars and economic inequality, a better place.

‘You have the most advanced scientific and technological tools at your disposal,’ he told students at the Catholic University in Lisbon on Thursday.

He told the young people, professors and honoured guests at the university that many of the planet’s problems were interconnected.

‘Do not forget that we need a holistic ecology, that the suffering of the planet must be heard together with that of the poor; that the drama of desertification must be seen in conjunction with that of refugees, the problem of migration with that of declining birth rates; that we take care of the material dimension of life within the framework of a spiritual dimension,’ he said.

‘Have the courage to replace fears with dreams,’ Francis said.

Francis told the crowd of about 500,000 people that the Catholic Church welcomed everyone.

‘There is room for everyone in the church and, whenever there is not, then, please, we must make room, including for those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle,’ Francis said.

He then lead the crowd in a chant of ‘todos,’ the Spanish and Portuguese word for ‘everyone.’

The 86-year-old is in Portugal this week to attend World Youth Day.

Highlights of his trip include meetings with young sick people at the shrine of Fátima, where he is also expected to pray for peace, as well as the evening prayer on Saturday and Mass on Sunday.

Source: Ghana News Agency