VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis denounced consumerism as a poison that threatens true happiness, which comes from membership in the church. The pope made his remarks Aug. 4, before praying the Angelus with a noontime crowd in St. Peter's Square.

“The encounter with the living Jesus, in the great family that is the church, fills the heart with joy, because it fills it with true life, a profound goodness that does not pass away or decay,” he said. “But this experience must face the daily vanity, the poison of emptiness that insinuates itself into our society based on profit and having (things), that deludes young people with consumerism,” he said.

“Young people are particularly sensitive to the emptiness of meaning and values that surrounds them,” he said. “And they, unfortunately, pay the consequences.”