Pope says Christ's poverty offers cure for world ravaged by greed

Published: 2006-04-10

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Celebrating Mass on Palm Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI said the poverty of Christ offers the cure for a world ravaged by materialism and greed. The April 9 liturgy also marked World Youth Day, and the pope watched as young people from his native Germany turned over a large cross to youths from Sydney, Australia, where the next international youth gathering will be held in July 2008. Over the next two years, the pope said, the cross will make a pilgrimage "across continents and cultures, a path through a world torn and tormented by violence." It is the cross, he said, that epitomizes the message of Christ. As a sign of poverty, reconciliation and love, it challenges the prevailing desire for "a life without restrictions and without sacrifice," he said. The pope celebrated the two-and-a-half-hour Mass on a splendid spring day in St. Peter's Square, processing through the crowd and blessing palm fronds and olive branches held up by the faithful.

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