Pope tells Latin American Church to fight corruption

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged the Catholic Church in Latin America to fight against ''the plague of corruption and indifference'' in the region by reinforcing ''a sense of ecclesiastical belonging''.
In a message to the Third American Missionary Conference under way in Quito, Ecuador, the pope said the specific challenges that faced people in the region required the Catholic Church to ''overcome individualism'' to form united Christian communities.
''Faced with the difficulties of an environment that is at times hostile, with a lack of immediate and spectacular results or human means, I invite you not to let fear win out, be discouraged, or allow yourselves to be dragged along by inertia,'' he said.
The pontiff meanwhile became the first pope in 30 years to address the faithful from his summer residence in Castelgandolfo instead of returning to Rome for his traditional Wednesday audience.
Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) had been the last pope to make a Wednesday address from the town overlooking Lake Albano near Rome.
Benedict returned to Castelgandolfo on Monday after a two-week summer break in the northern Italian mountain town of Bressanone with his brother Georg, also a priest.
Bressanone Mayor Albert Puergstaller said Wednesday that the costs of the pope's stay - 100,000 euros from the town and a further 500,000 from the province - had been well worth the ''priceless international publicity''.