Pope Francis kisses a baby Jesus statue before he leads a Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican yesterday. Photo: Giampiero Sposito/Reuters

Pope Francis made an impassioned New Year’s peace address yesterday, saying the heart of humanity seemed to have gone astray and too many people were still indifferent to war, violence and injustice.

The Pontiff, who took his papal name from St Francis of Assisi, the saint most associated with peace, urged the world to listen to the “cry for peace” from suffering peoples.

“What on earth is happening in the hearts of men? What on earth is happening in the heart of humanity?” he said to tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square on the day the Roman Catholic Church celebrates its World Day of Peace.

“It’s time to stop!” he said, departing from his prepared text.

Pope Francis was speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square that popes traditionally use for their addresses.

Unlike his predecessors, Pope Francis has not used the spacious apartment behind the window since his election in March, shunning pomp and preferring instead to live in small quarters in a Vatican guest house. “Everyone must be committed to building a society that is truly just and caring,” he told the crowd yesterday, acknowledging the many peace banners and blue balloons held aloft.

What is happening in the heart of humanity?

In a message for the World Day of Peace sent to world leaders last month, Pope Francis said that huge salaries and bonuses were symptoms of an economy based on greed and inequality

In that letter, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina again urged nations to narrow the gap between rich and poor, more and more of whom were getting only “crumbs”.

Pope Francis, named Person of the Year by Time magazine and a number of other publications, has urged his own Church to set an example by being more fair and frugal and less pompous, and to get closer to the poor and afflicted.

The new year is expected to bring concrete changes to the Vatican.

On February 22, Pope Francis will name his first batch of cardinals to join the exclusive group that will one day choose his successor.