Families from rich countries could sponsor families from poor ones, Pope Benedict XVI suggested Saturday at a gathering of around 350,000 people at a park just north of Milan.
The pope was speaking at the latest event in a three-day visit to Milan, part of the Church-sponsored World Meeting of Families, a relaxed and festive setting that has been a welcome distraction from recent crises at the Vatican.
Speaking without notes before an enthusiastic crowd at the Bresso park, the pope proposed a new twist to the system under which cities in different countries "twin" with each other.
His suggestion that families from rich countries could act as sponsors for families from poorer ones drew enthusiastic applause from his audience....