Pope: Don't ask if a homeless person is drunk, ask if your heart has become icy

(Patria) - Something is wrong if Christians do not empathize with the poor, Pope Francis said on Sunday.

"It is crucial to be able to empathize. If you are faced with a person in need, and you do not empathize with them, then your heart is cold, it means something is wrong," the Pope said.

The ability to empathize has become the measure of Christians, or at least of Christ's teachings, Francis said during Sunday's Angelus in St. Peter's Square.

If you pass by a homeless person on the street, the Pope urged, "don't ask if that person is drunk, ask yourself if your heart has hardened, become icy."