After the financial crisis, rediscover temperance and prudence – Pope Francis

In his first message for the World Day of Peace on New Year's Day, the head of the Roman Catholic Church called for a sense of fraternity to be cultivated in families and to fight off the "globalization of indifference" that makes various peoples inured to the suffering of others.

Pope Francis gives his message to the world on New Year's Day during his midday celebration at the Vatican City, in Rome.

The Argentinian pope recalled Paul VI's words that the duty to build a "common future" for humans fell first to rich nations to assist the less developed in a duty of solidarity, as well as creating greater fairness and a more human world.

Francis noted the rise in relative poverty and the inequality of incomes in the world, saying there was a need for "policies which can lighten an excessive imbalance between incomes".

"The succession of economic crises should lead to a timely rethinking of our models of economic development and to a change in lifestyles. Today's crisis, even with its serious implications for people's lives, can also provide us with a fruitful opportunity to rediscover the virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and strength.

"These virtues can help us to overcome difficult moments and to recover the fraternal bonds which join us one to another, with deep confidence that human beings need and are capable of something greater than maximizing their individual interest. Above all, these virtues are necessary for building and preserving a society in accord with human dignity."

He made special mention of human trafficking as an unsettling example of what he called "no end to grave offences against fundamental human rights", especially the right to life and the right to religious freedom.

"Globalisation, as Benedict XVI pointed out, makes us neighbours, but does not make us brothers. The many situations of inequality, poverty and injustice, are signs not only of a profound lack of fraternity, but also of the absence of a culture of solidarity. New ideologies, characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, weaken social bonds, fuelling that 'throwaway' mentality which leads to contempt for, and the abandonment of, the weakest and those considered 'useless'," Pope Francis said.

He said the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, teaches men and women their inherent calling to fraternity, but also the tragic capacity to betray that calling.

"This is witnessed by our daily acts of selfishness, which are at the root of so many wars and so much injustice: many men and women die at the hands of their brothers and sisters who are incapable of seeing themselves as such, that is, as beings made for reciprocity, for communion and self-giving."

Francis said fraternity, dialogue, pardon and reconciliation, could rebuild justice, trust, and hope. "From this standpoint, it is clear that, for the world's peoples, armed conflicts are always a deliberate negation of international harmony, and create profound divisions and deep wounds which require many years to heal. Wars are a concrete refusal to pursue the great economic and social goals that the international community has set itself."

He also described political corruption as gravely offensive to God, "all the more so when they have religious overtones", and echoed the same message of "fraternity" in calling for a better stewardship of the natural environment.

"Nature, in a word, is at our disposition and we are called to exercise a responsible stewardship over it. Yet so often we are driven by greed and by the arrogance of dominion, possession, manipulation and exploitation; we do not preserve nature; nor do we respect it or consider it a gracious gift which we must care for and set at the service of our brothers and sisters, including future generations."