Pope Francis is the fourth pope to address the United Nations. The Pope used the gathering of Friday’s event to give a speech before the General Assembly to highlight the signature themes of his address.
The Pope's visit to the U.N. started with a welcoming ceremony led by Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
He praised the U.N. for being an instrument of protecting the environment, easing the poverty and furthering peace and settlement in every countries.
But Pope Francis warned the United Nations against exercising a kind of cultural imperialism that declined the respect for the autonomy of poorer countries particularly in matters of sexuality and the family.
Standing before the General Assembly in his first address, Pope Francis supported the United Nations' efforts to reach the global compact to prevent poverty of the countries and climate change. He also condemned the world's super powers for putting political activities ahead of human sufferings in the Middle East.
Francis’ global agenda on poverty and the environment is already well known but the podium of the United Nations gave him a global stage to express an agenda that mostly corresponded with the body’s Sustainable Development Goals, and with the program of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
More than 190 heads of state attended the General Assembly and many of them made a point to be in the United Nation's historic hall for Pope Francis' speech on the eve of discussion of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and, later in the year, the Paris Conference on Climate Change.
“Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity,” Pope Francis said.
“A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and the disadvantaged,” he added.
