He repeated his concern over persecuted Christians and, foremost, demanded that action be taken on behalf of the global poor.
"They are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the consequences of abuse of the environment," Francis said. "These phenomena are part of today`s widespread and quietly growing `culture of waste`."
Francis became the fifth pope to visit the United Nations, and his appearance brought enormous security precautions and an electric atmosphere. People lined up before dawn to enter the building. Police boats floated along the East River that flows past the United Nations campus in Manhattan.
The senior U.N. police officer barked into his cellphone at the employee entrance as an army of police, Secret Service and other security officers patrolled the area.
For the first time, the flag of the Holy See was raised above the U.N. headquarters. As a "nonmember observer state," the Holy See has limited rights, but flying the flag was made possible by a resolution advanced by the delegation from Palestine, the only other nonmember observer state.
Francis` global agenda on poverty and the environment is already well known but the rostrum of the United Nations gave him a global stage to articulate an agenda that mostly dovetails with the body`s Sustainable Development Goals, and with the program of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Just as President Barack Obama earlier this week basked in the presence of the popular Argentine pope, Ban benefited, too.
"In no other hall, from no other platform, can a world leader speak to all humanity," Ban declared in announcing the pontiff.
Francis praised the accomplishments of the United Nations and its efforts to resolve conflicts and set human rights principles. Without that, Francis said, "mankind would not have been able to survive the unchecked use of its own possibilities."
Francis also sharply rebuked the world powers on the Security Council for their failure to agree on a peaceful transition to the wars in the Middle East, apparently referring specifically to Syria and Iraq, where people "have faced the alternative either of fleeing or of paying for their adhesions to good and to peace by their own lives, or by enslavement."
By contrast, Francis praised the recent nuclear agreement reached between Iran and world powers as "proof of the potential of political good will and of law."
For environmentalists, Francis` visit to the United States has been a boon. He has repeatedly raised his concerns about environment and climate change, as he did Friday morning at the United Nations.
Invoking the principle of international law and equality among nations, Francis endorsed the concept of "right of the environment."
"Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity," he said, later reprising his argument that the global poor are the biggest victims of environmental destruction.
"A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged," he said.
Francis spoke just before the formal opening of a special summit meeting to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals, a broad range of development objectives that echo many of his own priorities: uplifting the poor, saving the earth`s forests and seas, and combating climate change.
Of the 17 goals, the Holy See has formally objected to only one: gender equality, because of its longstanding reservations on ensuring "universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights," which is one of the targets included in the Goals document.
Francis also delved into the contested issues of U.N. governance, with a call for "greater equity" on the Security Council, which seemed certain to please developing powers such as India and Brazil, which are not permanent veto-wielding members.
Before the pope`s speech, Ban introduced Francis to 350 cheering U.N. employees in the lobby.
For spots to see the pope in the lobby, 4,758 staff members put their names into a lottery.
"Dear friends, good morning," the pope said in English, in his address to the staff shortly before 9 a.m.
"Viva Papa!" went up a cheer.
He called the U.N. staff members "in many ways the backbone of this organization" and made a joke about "all those who could not be here today," and with a pause, "because of the lottery."
True to form, the pope thanked not only field staff members and interpreters but also "maintenance and security personnel." He spoke slowly. He asked the nonbelievers in the audience to "wish me well." A round of laughter and applause went up.
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