Pope's message to Copenhagen summit: God's laws protect nature

December 07, 2009

During his regular Sunday audience on December 6, Pope Benedict XVI sent a message of support to world leaders meeting at the “climate summit” in Copenhagen. The Pope said that he hoped the meeting would “identify actions that respect creation and promote development in solidarity, based upon the dignity of human beings and oriented to the common good.”

Preservation of the environment, the Holy Father continues, “requires the adoption of sober and responsible lifestyles, especially with respect to the poor and to future generations.” Toward that end he called upon all the world’s peoples to “respect the laws established by God over nature and to rediscover the moral dimension of human life.”

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Holy See’s permanent observer at UN headquarters in New York, heads the Vatican delegation taking part in the Copenhagen meeting.

Pope Benedict had devoted most of his Angelus audience to a discussion of the day’s Gospel, which provided a “detailed historical introduction” to the time in which Jesus was born. That detail is called for, he said, to emphasize that “Jesus of Nazareth was a real person who lived in that specific context.” The Pope went on to note that St. Luke’s Gospel focuses on the Word of God, made incarnate in Jesus Christ.

 

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Further information:

• Pope to climate summit: respect God’s creation (AP)
• Pope Calls for Action at Copenhagen Climate Conference
• The Word of God Moves Human History (VIS)