'World Needs Christ's Salvation More Than Ever,' Says Pope Francis

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Monday, June 20, 2016

Pope Francis waves during his Sunday Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, Rome, Italy, June 19, 2016. | (Photo: Reuters/Tony Gentile)

Pope Francis has warned that a global emptiness and insecurity is gripping the world, saying people need Jesus Christ more than ever before.

"The world needs Christ more than ever, needs His salvation and His merciful love," Francis said on Sunday.

"Many people sense a void around and inside of them. Perhaps some of us too," he reflected, according to Catholic News Agency.

The Roman Catholic Church leader said during a gathering of pilgrims at St. Peter's Square that "Jesus knows the heart of man like no other," and is able to heal and console humanity.

Francis said people need to focus on who Jesus is, and shared Christ's Words to His disciples, where He says: "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

The Vatican leader argued that it is not an "ornamental or an ideological cross," but the cross of daily life and sacrifice.

"It is the cross of solidarity with the poor, of our commitment to justice and peace," the pontiff continued.

An exhausted Syrian refugee drinks water after arriving by a raft on the Greek island of Lesbos, November 19, 2015. Balkan countries have begun filtering the flow of migrants to Europe, granting passage to those fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Afghanistan but turning back others from Africa and Asia, the United Nations and Reuters witnesses said on Thursday. | (Photo: Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)

"Let us remember all those people who put into practice these Words of Jesus, offering their time and their work, their efforts and even their lives in order not to deny their faith in Christ. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, will give us the strength to continue on our journey of faith and to bear witness to Him."

At the end of the service, Francis touched upon World Refugee Day on Monday, an issue that is close to his heart.

The Catholic leader said refugees are "people like everyone else, but from whom war has taken their house, work, relatives and friends."

"Because of this we wish to be with them: to meet them, to welcome them, to listen to them, to become with them artisans of peace, according to the will of God," he added.

UNHCR revealed in a report on Monday that as many as 65.3 million people are living as refugees or internally displaced migrants, which is the highest number since Wold War II.

Francis has urged compassion for the millions of refugees streaming into Europe fleeing civil war and terrorism, such as the persecution of Christians and other minorities carried out by the Islamic State terror group.

Back in March, the pope washed and kissed the feet of 12 refugees ahead of Easter, declaring that people of all religions are "children of the same God."

"All of us together: Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, Copts, Evangelicals ... all brothers and children of the same God," the pontiff said at the foot washing ceremony. "We want to live together in peace."