Humanity must have more direct contact with nature to counter the modern lifestyles that are destroying the planet, Pope Francis said on Saturday. Source: CNS.
Respecting and loving the earth as well as seeking direct contact with nature “are values that we need so much today as we discover ourselves increasingly powerless before the consequences of irresponsible and short-sighted exploitation of the planet,” he told members of the Italian Catholic Movement of Adult Scouts.
Meeting with the members, dressed in their scouting uniforms, the Pope said people in modern society are “prisoners of lifestyles and behaviours that are as selfishly deaf to every appeal of common sense as they are tragically self-destructive; insensitive to the cry of a wounded earth, as well as to the voice of so many brothers and sisters unjustly marginalised and excluded from an equitable distribution of goods.”
“In the face of this, the Scouts’ sober, respectful and frugal style sets a great example for all,” he said.
Citing his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home,” the Pope encouraged the scouts to “take charge” of the current climate crisis and from there, to deeply consider “the specific place that human beings occupy in this world and their relations with the reality that surrounds them”.
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Seek contact with nature to change polluting lifestyles, Pope says (By Justin McLellan, CNS)
