Pope Francis on Monday praised Latvia's ability to promote effective strategies giving priority to family life rather than the economy, addressing political leaders in Riga on the third day of his Baltic pilgrimage.
"At the end of this meeting we will travel to the Freedom Monument, where children, youths and families will be present", the pontiff said after arriving in the country Monday morning from Lithuania.
"They remind us that the 'maternity' of Latvia", an analogy suggested by the motto of his trip to Latvia - Show Thyself a Mother - "is echoed by the ability to promote strategies that are truly effective and focused on the concrete faces of these families, these elderly, children and youths, more that on the supremacy of the economy over life".
The pontiff's four-day Baltic tour is wrapping up Tuesday in Estonia. The pope is visiting the three Baltic countries to mark their 100th anniversary of independence and to encourage faith in the area, which endured half a century of Soviet-imposed religious repression.
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