Before their speeches, the Pope and Younan also listened to four testimonies from both Catholics and Lutherans working for the common good and the advancement of various sectors of society.
After hearing the testimony of Pranita Biswasi, a Lutheran woman from the district in Orissa, India speak about the effects of climate change on the poor and the need to take better care of the environment, the Pope noted that creation "is a sign of God's boundless love for us."
He thanked Biswasi, who was a delegate from the LWF to 2015's COP21 climate summit in Paris, for her work, telling her that he shares her concerns for the "abuses" that harm the plant and cause "grave effects on the climate."
"As you rightly mentioned, their greatest impact is on those who are most vulnerable and needy; they are forced to emigrate in order to escape the effects of climate change," he said, adding that everyone, especially Christians, "are responsible for protecting creation. Our lifestyle and our actions must always be consistent with our faith."
The Pope then turned to the testimony given by Msgr. Héctor Fabio Henao Gaviria of Colombia, who serves as director of Caritas and the National Secretariat of Social Pastoral Ministry.
After hearing the priest speak about the problem of violence in Colombia, the initiatives of Caritas and the need for peace in the country, Francis said "it is good to know that Christians are working together to initiate communitarian and social processes of common interest."
"I ask you to pray in a special way for that great country, so that, through the cooperation of all, peace, so greatly desired and necessary for a worthy human coexistence, can finally be achieved," he said.
Francis then pointed to the testimony of Marguerite Barankitse of Burundi. After receiving death threats for speaking out against conflict that erupted in the country last year, she has been a refugee in Rwanda.
Barankitse is Catholic and is the foundress of the Maison Shalom organization, which is a complex of schools, hospitals and a care network extending throughout Burundi focusing specifically on child welfare and ending ethnic discrimination.
Referring to the work Barankitse carries out, the Pope said that striving to achieve peace and help children who are victims of various atrocities "is both admirable and a summons to take seriously the countless situations of vulnerability experienced by so many persons who have no way to speak out."
He noted how in her speech, Barankitse said many people called her "crazy" for her work with what she called her "strategy of love."
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This craziness, Francis said, "is the craziness of love for God and our neighbor. We need more of this craziness, illuminated by faith and confidence in God's providence."
"What you consider a mission has been a seed that has borne abundant fruit and today, thanks to that seed, thousands of children can study, grow and enjoy good health," he said, voicing his gratitude that even in exile, she continues to spread a message of peace.
The Pope then pointed to the last testimony he listened to before his speech, which came from Rose Lokonyen, a refugee from South Sudan living in Kenya who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics as one of 10 members of the games' first-ever refugee team.
Originally from South Sudan, Lokonyen fled with her family to Kenya when she was just 4 years old, where she lived in a refugee camp for 16 years before joining the Olympic team.
Pope Francis noted how Lokonyen was able to make use of the talent God had given her. Rather than "wasting her energy on adverse situations," instead she "found fulfillment in a fruitful life," he said.
"While I was listening to your story, I thought of the lives of so many young people who need to hear stories like yours. I would like everyone to know that they can discover how wonderful it is to be children of God and what privilege it is to be loved and cherished by him," Francis said.