"The gap between the rich and the poor has become wider and worrying, also in the economically-advanced countries". This was denounced by the Pope, who, at the end of today’s general audience, mentioned the World Day of the Rejection of Poverty, recognised by the United Nations with the name of International Day for the Elimination of Poverty, which is celebrated today. "How many populations still live in a state of extreme poverty!", exclaimed Benedict XVI, who went on: "This worrying situation must be taken into account by mankind because the condition in which a large number of people are is so bad it offends the dignity of the human being and therefore affects the true, harmonious progress of the world’s community". Hence the appeal of the Holy Father "to multiply efforts to remove the causes of poverty and the tragic consequences that ensue from it".
