Pope Francis on Monday said he sees “still greater omens of greater destruction and desolation” in the world and called on people “to put aside selfishness, indifference and antagonism.”
The 85-year-old pontiff’s remarks come on the heels of a Pew Research Center survey that revealed nearly two in five Americans believe humanity is living in the “end times,” including 29% of non-Christians and 23% of the religiously unaffiliated.
Francis made his remarks at the Vatican during a Mass honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron of Mexico, who first appeared to an indigenous peasant in 1531. The Guadalupana Intercontinental Novena, or series of special prayers, begins leading up to the 2031 quincentenary observance of the apparition.