Pope Francis yesterday celebrated a huge open-air mass in Seoul, where he denounced the growing gap between the haves and have-nots, urging people in affluent societies to listen to "the cry of the poor" among them.

The Pope also beatified 124 Korean martyrs, killed in the 18th and 19th centuries for refusing to renounce Christianity.

Last year, in the first major written work of his papacy, Francis attacked unfettered capitalism as "a new tyranny", urging global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality.