Preview of encyclical? Pope sends encouragement to UN conference on climate change
June 05, 2015
Addressing the problem of climate change is a moral duty, which mankind can fulfill “only if we act together and agree,” Pope Francis said in a message to a UN conference on climate change, now taking place in Lima, Peru.
The Pope’s message—which may have offered a preview of the themes he will explore in his forthcoming encyclical on the environment—offered his support and encouragement for the work of the UN conference. The Pope emphasized that the issue of climate change has special importance for the poor, who are least able to cope with the consequences.
Pope Francis stressed the responsibility of world leaders to protect creation, acting as good stewards and protecting a healthy environment for future generations.
In a related development, Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli said that the encyclical, Laudato Si, which will be released on June 18, will be an ecumenical document, backing the strong environmental stands that have been taken by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. Tornielli remarks that there were suggestions that the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch could issue the encyclical; he does not identify the source of those suggestions.
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Further information:
- Pope: Climate Change a serious ethical and moral responsibility (Vatican Radio)
- “Laudato Si’” encyclical is an invitation to protect creation (Vatican Insider)
- Pope’s 2nd encyclical to be released June 18 (CWN, 6/4)
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Posted by: filioque -
Jun. 05, 2015 6:31 PM ET USA
This confusing. It is actually a report from last November, not a new statement from the Pope. I think we can all agree that the climate is changing - it has always changed. If this is harming some people we should work together to ameliorate the effects. But the crucial question is whether human activity is driving climate change. For that there is no compelling evidence, therefore no moral imperative to reduce or stop the human activity said to be the problem: burning fossil fuels.
