New Pope, Francis said the Church should not be closed off to sinners. “We are often controllers of the faith instead of facilitators" the pope said. The 76-year-old Argentine pontiff gave an example of a priest who had turned down a baptism for a child born to a single mother.

“This is not zeal, this is distance from God! When we are on His path with this attitude we are not helping people of God," he said. Francis, formerly the archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio has repeatedly called for the Catholic Church to be closer to ordinary people, including people of other faiths and people with no faith.

Speaking to delegates attending a conference on unemployment organized by a Catholic foundation, the pope said the word ‘Solidarity’ should no longer be understood as “Simple assistance to the poorest but a global rethink of the whole system".