Pope blasts greed of rich in Kenya, lands in Uganda

(ANSA) - Rome, November 27 - Pope Francis on Friday blasted the greed of the rich at a slum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on the final day of the first leg of his six-day tour of Africa, before heading off to Uganda.
    Francis admitted that the Vatican itself was not immune from corruption.
    Francis blasted rich people who accumulate money and power, thus creating social marginalisation, during a visit on Friday to Kangemi, a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi. "Urban marginalisation stems from the wounds caused by the minorities who concentrate power and riches in their own hands and selfishly squander resources, while a growing majority have to seek refuge in abandoned, polluted, discarded areas on the outskirts," the pope said. Francis then told young Kenyan people to reject the "sugar of corruption" during a meeting at Nairobi's Kasarani's stadium on Friday. "Don't get a taste for it," the Argentine pontiff said.
    "Don't accept this sugar called corruption. Corruption takes away joy. "Corrupt people do not live in peace. Corruption is not a path of life. It's a path of death". Pope Francis, who will leave Kenya later on Friday and fly to Uganda for the second part of his Africa trip, admitted that the Holy See was not immune from the plague of graft. "Corruption is in all the institutions, corruption is everywhere, there's corruption in the Vatican too," said the pope, who will also visit the Central African Republic (CAR) during this week's trip. The Argentine pontiff has repeatedly spoken out against against corruption, including within the Church, since being elected the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics in 2013.
    The Vatican administration and its bank have been hit by several scandals in recent years.
    This month it was hit by the so-called VatiLeaks 2 scandal and the related publication of two books using leaked Holy See papers documenting alleged waste, mismanagement and lavish spending by clergymen.
    Among the cases to hit the headlines was the 2013 arrest of prelate Monsignor Nunzio Scarano.
    Scarano, the former head of analytic accounts at the Holy See's asset-management agency APSA, is suspected involvement in the laundering money through accounts at the Vatican Bank and of trying to illegally smuggle 20 million euros into Italy for rich friends.
    In other remarks aimed at delving into the root causes of the radicalisation that boosts recruiting to Islamic State, the pope said society should try to create more educational and employment opportunities for young people to help lessen the pull of religious radicalism on disaffected but idealistic youth.
    The pope posed the question: why do "young people full of ideals let themselves be swept up by religious radicalism in this way, leaving their families, their lives?".
    He continued: "it's a question we should put to all people in authority: if a young man or woman does not have a job and cannot study, what can they do?".
    Francis landed in Uganda later, his plane touching down at Entebbe Aiport at around 15:30.
    During his two days in Uganda, following in the footsteps of Pope Paul VI, Francis will visit shrines in memory of martyred Christians at Munyonyo and Namugongo.
    Moving onto the Central African Republic Sunday, the pope will highlight inter-religious dialogue in the capital Bangui, where the Interfaith Peace Platform is seeking to build bridges between Christians and Muslims.
    The pontiff flies back to Rome from CAR Monday.