Pope to Kids: Spurn 'Spiritual Desert'

Pope Benedict XVI called on young Christians to revive spirituality by rejecting modern society's greed and materialism, AP reports. At a mass of 350,000 young pilgrims in Sydney, and a global TV audience of millions, the pope called for "a new age in which hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy, and self-absorption which deadens our souls." The mass concluded a six-day World Youth festival, which drew crowds from 160 countries. (More Christianity stories.)