Pope Francis warned of the "cancer" of despair that afflicts outwardly affluent societies and called on South Korean Catholics to reject "inhuman economic models" at a mass for 45,000 people today on the first papal trip to Asia in 15 years.
In an apparent reference to South Korea's high suicide rate, he also warned of the "culture of death" that can pervade rapidly developing countries where the poor are marginalised.
It was the pope's first public event following his arrival in Seoul yesterday, which nuclear-armed North Korea marked by firing a series of short-range rockets into the sea.
A capacity crowd had crammed the World Cup stadium in Daejeon, some 160 kilometres south of Seoul, hours before the pope arrived to conduct the mass.
Among them were 38 survivors and relatives of victims of April's Sewol ferry tragedy in which 300 people died, most of them schoolchildren.
During the mass, Pope Francis offered a special prayer for the victims and their families, and urged Koreans "united in grief" to work together for the common good.
Before the mass, he held a brief private audience with some of the relatives, and agreed to baptise the father of one of the student victims at the Vatican embassy in Seoul on Saturday.
The ferry tragedy has largely been blamed on a culture of regulatory negligence, fuelled by the drive to place profit over safety.
In his homily, Francis called on South Korean Christians to combat "the spirit of unbridled competition which generates selfishness and strife" and to "reject inhuman economic models which create new forms of poverty."
He also spoke of the "cancer" of despair that can permeate societies where surface affluence hides deep inner sadness.
"Upon how many of our young has this despair taken its toll," he said.
It was a message designed to resonate not just with South Koreans, but other emerging Asian nations where decades of rapid economic growth have thrown up stark social challenges.
Trees lining the streets leading to the stadium were tied with the yellow ribbons that have become the memorial symbol for those who died on the Sewol ferry.
"I'm a Protestant but I believe the papal visit will help heal the wounds from the Sewol disaster," one of the victims' relatives, Kim Hyeong-Ki, told AFP.
