Pope Francis on Sunday praised the role of the elderly in society and called on people to appreciate them more.

He said homes for the elderly should not become "prisons" and that abuse against old people was as bad as abuse against children.

"Violence against the elderly is as inhuman as that against children," the world's first non-European pope told the crowd.

"How many times are old people just discarded, victims of an abandonment that is tantamount to hidden euthanasia."

"This is the result of a throw-away culture that is hurting our world so much."

He said a "people that doesn't take care of its grandparents and treat them well is a people with no future."

"Grandparents who have received the blessing of seeing the children of their children are entrusted with a great task: transmitting the experience of life, the history of a family, of a community, of a people, sharing, with simplicity, wisdom, and faith itself - the most precious inheritance," the pope added.

Argentine Pope Francis took over for 87-year-old Emeritus Pope Benedict, who became the first pope to resign in six centuries in February 2013. Benedict attended the event and sat in a special seat in the front row. Francis said having a retired pope at the Vatican was like "having the wise grandfather at home."

The ceremony at St. Peter's Square saw performances by entertainers including famous tenor Andrea Bocelli.

According to the World Health Organization, the number of people over 60 in the world will double in the next 11 years to 1.2 billion people.

sb/bw (Reuters, AP)