Stop being greedy, Pope tells world's youth

The world's natural resources are being squandered because of the "insatiable" demands of consumers, the Pope warned yesterday, urging young people to care for the environment.

The 81-year-old pontiff also expressed concern that television and the internet exalted violence, alcohol and drug abuse and sexual exploitation as entertainment but young people's "keen sense of social justice and ethics" and the innate goodness of mankind filled him with hope.

"Reluctantly we come to acknowledge that there are also scars which mark the surface of our Earth: erosion, deforestation, the squandering of the world's mineral and ocean resources in order to fuel an insatiable consumption," he told a crowd of around 200,000 in his first official address in Sydney.

He warned of the effect of climate change on island nations and drought-stricken countries like Australia, and lamented modern-day pollutants. "Among the more prevalent are alcohol and drug abuse, and the exaltation of violence and sexual degradation, often presented through television and the internet as entertainment."

Earlier, he made a grand entrance by touring Sydney Harbour in a "boat-a-cade" - a nautical version of the traditional motorcade - accompanied by a fleet of other vessels. He was given a traditional Aboriginal welcome ceremony by dancers wearing animal pelts and playing didgeridoos.

The pontiff has had a warm welcome with thousands of Sydneysiders turning out to see him, but speculation is rife over whether he will apologise for the sexual abuse of children by priests, as he did on an American visit this year.
