"CAMPOBASSO, Italy - Pope Francis called for more respect for nature on Saturday, branding the destruction of South America's rain forests and other forms of environmental exploitation a sin of modern times.

In an address at the university of Molise, an agricultural and industrial region in southern Italy, Francis said the Earth should be allowed to give her fruits without being exploited.

'This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation,' he told students, struggling farmers, and laid-off workers in a university hall."

Philip Pullella reports for the Associated Press June 5, 2014. [2]