VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis used
his year-end prayer service on Tuesday evening to urge people to ask themselves
a tough question: Did they mainly spend 2013 promoting self-interests or
helping others?
That's what we all should consider as New Year's
celebrations get under way, the pontiff said as he led the service in St.
Peter's Basilica to give thanks, a Vatican year-end
tradition.
"Let us courageously ask ourselves: How did
we live the time (God) gave us?" Francis asked in his homily. "Did we
use it above all for ourselves, for our interests, or did we know how to spend
it for others as well?"
He also encouraged people to reflect on whether
they used 2013 to improve the place where they live. "This year did we
contribute, in our own small ways, to make it more livable, orderly, welcoming?"
Pope
Francis kisses a baby Jesus statue as he arrives to celebrate a New
Year's Eve vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica, Dec. 31, 2013
AP/Alessandra Tarantino
There are "so many people marked by
material and moral poverty, poor people, unhappy, suffering, who appeal to the
conscience not only of public authorities but of every citizen," Francis
said.
During his first year as pope, Francis has
stressed that he wants the Catholic church to be a "poor" church,
focused on reaching out to those who live on the margins of society and others
in need.
Citing Rome as an example, the pope noted that
the city is "full of tourists, but also full of refugees. Rome is full of
people who work, but also of people who don't find work, or who do jobs that
are underpaid or without dignity."
"All have the right to be treated with the
same attitude of welcoming and fairness because everyone carries human
dignity," Francis said.
After the solemn service in the basilica,
Francis put on a long white coat and went out into St. Peter's Square to admire
a life-sized Nativity scene and greet well-wishers
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