Pope Benedict Appeals for Aid

Pope Benedict, speaking to hundreds of pilgrims in St Peter's Square, calls for an overhaul of the global economic model. He also appeals for an international aid effort in cholera-hit Haiti.

Pope Benedict, conducting a devotional service in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, said the global economy needed to be reformed.

The Roman Catholic pontiff also urged an international aid effort in cholera-stricken Haiti.

The Pope's remarks came after a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies in Seoul that ended on Friday.

[Pope Benedict]:
"The on-going economic crisis, discussed also in the past days at the G20 summit, is to be taken in all of its seriousness; it has numerous effects and it sets a strong case to call for a profound revision of the global economic development model."

He said that reassessing the role of the agricultural sector in the global economic model was imperative.

The Pope also urged governments around the world to encourage a more sustainable way of living to prevent environmental problems and to help the poor.

[Pope Benedict]:
"A very concerted effort should be made to pursue a new balance between agriculture, industry and services for the development to be sustainable and for no one to go without food and work, and that air, water and other primary resources remain preserved as universal values."

[...]

[Pope Benedict]:
"In this moment, I would like to express my closeness to the dear population of Haiti, who, due to the terrible earthquake last January, now suffer from a serious epidemic of cholera. I encourage all those who are doing their utmost to address this new emergency, and while I assure you of my special remembrance in prayer, I appeal to the international community to generously aid this population."

The United Nations estimates that up to 200,000 Haitians could contract cholera as the outbreak is set to spread across the battered Caribbean nation of nearly 10 million.