Pope makes tough sell on materialism in SKorea

DAEJEON, South Korea (AP) — Pope Francis urged Catholic youth on Friday to renounce the materialism that afflicts much of Asian society today and reject “inhuman” economic systems that disenfranchise the poor, pressing his economic agenda in one of the region’s powerhouses where financial gain is a key barometer of success.

Francis received a boisterous welcome from tens of thousands of young Asians as he celebrated his first public Mass in South Korea, a country with a small but growing church that is seen by the Vatican as a model for the rest of the world.