Pope, in year-end message, urges action on youth unemployment

Pope Francis leads the First Vespers and Te Deum prayers in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican December 31, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis in his year-end message urged leaders on Saturday to do more to tackle youth unemployment, saying a generation was being lost to desperation, migration and joblessness.

At his last public event of 2016, an evening vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica, the 80-year-old Francis said doors had to be opened for young people "so that they can be capable of dreaming and fighting for their dreams".