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By Joshua McElwee and Marine Strauss
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -Pope Francis on Thursday referred to as on leaders in Luxembourg – a small nation with a thriving economic system and the best density of millionaires per capita on this planet – to dedicate assets to assist enhance situations in creating nations.
The 87-year-old pontiff, within the landlocked state for a day go to, prompt that a rise in overseas help might assist stem the circulate of refugees and migrants looking for to enter Europe.
“Allow us to not overlook that having wealth contains accountability,” the pontiff instructed a gathering of political and civil leaders at Luxembourg’s Cercle Cite, a neo-baroque palace.
“I ask for fixed vigilance in order that probably the most deprived nations … could also be helped to rise from their impoverished situations.”
It’s a uncommon European go to for Francis, who may also head to Belgium later within the day. He has tended to go to locations by no means visited by a pope, or the place Catholics are a small minority.
The pope, who has made take care of migrants a precedence of his 11-year papacy, stated Luxembourg had set “an instance in pointing the best way ahead in welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees”.
Practically half of Luxembourg’s 654,000-strong inhabitants are overseas nationals, primarily from neighbouring nations reminiscent of France, Belgium and Germany.
In a casual remark, the pope referred to Luxembourg’s low fertility charge and stated: “Please, extra kids.”
Referring to jokes he had made up to now about Western nations having extra pets than children, he promised he wouldn’t repeat them. However he stated once more: “Extra kids.”
Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden, in a speech welcoming Francis, stated the Luxembourg structure proclaims human dignity as a “basic proper”.
“We should every of us always try to make sure that this dignity is maintained,” he stated.
MEETING CLERGY ABUSE VICTIMS
In Belgium, the place the pope is travelling Thursday afternoon, he’ll maintain a non-public assembly with 15 survivors of abuse, the nation’s ambassador to the Vatican, Patrick Renault (EPA:), stated.
Greater than 700 complaints and reviews of abuse involving the church have been made in Belgium since 2012, in keeping with a church report. In March, the pope expelled from the priesthood a former Belgian bishop who admitted to sexually abusing two nephews.
On the flight from Rome on Thursday morning, Francis briefly greeted the journalists travelling on the airplane with him, however didn’t tour the plane to fulfill them individually, as he normally does.
The pope, who now makes use of a wheelchair attributable to knee and again ache, stated he didn’t really feel as much as “making the journey” across the again of the single-aisle plane.
Luxembourg, a rustic with an space of two,586 sq. km (998 sq. miles), counts about 271,000 Catholics amongst its inhabitants, the Vatican says.
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