Governments were called on by Pope Francis to help curb the current "economy of exclusion" and redistribute wealth and benefits to the poor on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Appealing them to show a new spirit of generosity, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor.
The speech was made to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major U.N. agencies who met in Rome this week.
Latin America's first pope is known for frequently slamming injustices of capitalism and lashing out at the global economic system.
According to the AP, a more equal form of economic progress can be carried out through "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society," he said.
The United Nations was urged to promote development goals that attack the root causes of poverty and hunger, protect the environment and ensure dignified labor for all.
"Friday's audience came just days after the Holy See was battered in a second round of grilling by a U.N. committee over its record of handling priestly sex abuse," the AP reported. "Neither the pope nor Ban spoke of the issue."
"Francis did refer to another topic at the U.N. hearings: the church's opposition to abortion, which U.N. committee members have criticized as an impediment to women's access to reproductive health care."
Francis called for respect for life "from conception to natural death" and his denunciation of the "culture of death" echoed previous papal exhortations against abortion.
Francis was invited by Ban during the meeting to speak to the United Nations, the AP reported.
Although no confirmation has been confirmed about the trip, Francis is widely expected to visit the U.S. in September 2015 to participate in a church meeting with families in Philadelphia, making a U.N. stop likely.
