DHAKA: Pope Francis has called for power in the Catholic Church to be devolved away from the Vatican, in the first major work he has written in the role.

In the document, he says he is open to suggestions to changes in the power of the papacy.

He also warns that rising global economic inequality is bound to explode in conflict.

Since becoming Pope in March, Francis has struck a markedly different tone to his predecessor on several issues.

In his ‘apostolic exhortation’, Pope Francis said he preferred a Church that was ‘bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security’.

BDST: 1927 HRS, NOV 26, 2013