On the environment ---- Part 4

(8) The international community has not acted enough: “recent World Summits on the environment have not lived up to expectations because, due to lack of political will, they were unable to reach truly meaningful and effective global agreements on the environment.” He writes, “the Church does not presume to settle scientific questions or to replace politics. But I am concerned to encourage an honest and open debate so that particular interests or ideologies will not prejudice the common good.” And, “there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago.”

(9) Individuals must act. “An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness,” he writes. We should also consider taking public transit, car-pooling, planting trees, turning off the lights and recycling.

(10) By the way, why are we here on Earth in the first place? “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” he writes.

On the environment ---- Part 3

(6) Population control does not address the problems of the poor. “In the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life.” And, “Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion.”

(7) Gender differences matter, and “valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different.”

on the environment -- Part 2

(3) Christians have misinterpreted Scripture and “must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”

(4) The importance of access to safe drinkable water is “a basic and universal human right.”

(5) Technocratic domination leads to the destruction of nature and the exploitation of people, and “by itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion.”

on the environment -- Part 1

An integral ecology includes taking time to reflect on our lifestyle and our ideals

Pope Francis is calling for an “ecological conversion” for the faithful in his sweeping new encyclical on the environment. The Pope warns of harming birds and industrial waste and calls for renewable fuel subsidies and energy efficiency. Here are some of the key passages people will read closely, everything from climate change and global warming to abortion and population control. (1) Climate change has grave implications. “Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever,” he writes.

(2) Rich countries are destroying poor ones, and the earth is getting warmer. “The warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world, especially Africa, where a rise in temperature, together with drought, has proved devastating for farming.”

It's a moral issue

The Pope reminds us that we as humans have a stewardship obligation to the planet, and that we must exercise that obligation in a way that is socially just and equitable.

Climate change from that perspective is not just an economic or technical issue -- how do we burn less carbon and how do we pay for it -- it's actually a moral issue.

“We need a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.”


Pope Francis called on Catholics worldwide to make safeguarding the environment and battling climate change an urgent and top priority of the 21st century.

In the lengthy treatise, more broadly addressed to “every person” who lives on Earth, the pope lays out a moral case for supporting sustainable economic and population growth as part of the church’s mission and humanity’s responsibility to protect God’s creation for future generations. While saying that there were natural causes to climate change over the earth’s history, the letter also says in strong words that human activity and production of greenhouse gases are to blame.

The draft text of the encyclical, titled “Laudato Si’” (“Be praised”)

Pope Francis calling for "cultural revolution"

Pope Francis is calling for "cultural revolution" to change our lifestyles -- from our addiction to technology to our treatment of the poor.

"The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish."

"Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last 200 years."

"We are not God. The Earth was here before us and was given to us."

"The idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology ... is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of the earth's goods, and this leads to the planet being squeezed dry at every limit."

"Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start."

On Climate Change

1. Think of future generations.

2. Embrace alternative energy sources.

3. Consider pollution's effect on the poor.

4. Take the bus!

5. Be humble.

6. Don't become a slave to your phone.

7. Don't trade online relationships for real ones.

8. Turn off the lights, recycle and don't waste food.

9. Educate yourself.

10. Believe you can make a difference.

Part 1

There is an urgent need for us to move forward in a bold cultural revolution.

“The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth”

“Economic powers continue to justify the current global system where priority tends to be given to speculation and the pursuit of financial gain. As a result, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of the deified market, which become the only rule.”

We have to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.

Interdependence obliges us to think of one world with a common plan.

Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is, first and foremost, up to us.

What is at stake is our own dignity.

What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?

The world we have received also belongs to who will follow us. 

Having a home has much to do with a sense of personal dignity and the growth of families.

For indigenous communities, land is not a commodity, but a gift from God, a sacred space.

We need an integrated approach to combating poverty and protecting nature.

It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.

The culture of relativism drives one person to take advantage of another, to treat others as mere objects.

Christian thought sees human beings as possessing a particular dignity above other creatures.

Scientific and technological progress cannot be equated with the progress of humanity and history.

By itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion.


We are learning all too slowly the lessons of environmental deterioration.

It is possible that we don’t grasp the gravity of the challenges before us. 

Each age tends to have only a meagre awareness of its own limitations.

Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely.

For believers, this becomes a question of fidelity to the Creator.

Earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone.

We continue to tolerate some considering themselves more worthy than others.

We should be particularly indignant at the enormous inequalities in our midst.

At times more zeal is shown in protecting other species than in defending the equal dignity of human beings.

A fragile world challenges us to devise intelligent ways of directing, developing and limiting our power.

Every creature is the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it its place in the world.

“Creation” has a broader meaning than “nature”; it has to do with God’s loving plan.

Each community has the duty to protect the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations.

The present world system is certainly unsustainable from a number of points of view.

We need only to take a frank look at the facts to see that our common home is falling into serious disrepair.

Whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenceless before the interests of a deified market.

The alliance between economy and technology ends up sidelining anything unrelated to its immediate interests.

Economic interests easily end up trumping the common good.

There is no room for the globalization of indifference.

Developed countries ought to help pay this debt by limiting their consumption of nonrenewable energy.

To blame population growth, and not an extreme consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues.

One particularly serious problem is the quality of water available to the poor.

These problems are closely linked to a throwaway culture.

Climate change represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.

The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.

“To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.” 

The throwaway culture of today calls for a new lifestyle.

There is a value proper to each creature.

There is a need to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress.