Pope Francis urges harmony over division in TED conference via video
VANCOUVER: Pope Francis late Tuesday urged harmony over division in a surprise papal TED talk, delivered via video to the big-ideas gathering in Vancouver.
Francis embraced the theme of this year’s conference – ‘ The Future is You’ – saying it was relations and connections between people that would shape society going forward.
“The future is made of ‘yous,’ it is made of encounters, because life flows through our relations with others,” Francis said.
“Everyone’s existence is deeply tied to that of others: life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions.”
He hoped the TED conference, a prestigious gathering devoted to ‘ideas worth spreading, would remind people that they need each other.
In human life, as in science, all things are connected, Francis reasoned.
“The future of humankind isn’t exclusively in the hands of politicians, of great leaders, of big companies,” Francis said.
“Yes, they do hold an enormous responsibility. But the future is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognise the other as a ‘you’ and themselves as part of an ‘us.’
He expressed hope that science and technology innovations would come with social equality and inclusion.
It was the first time Francis has addressed an international conference, according to TED organisers. — AFP