Rising global temperatures are a sign not just of climate change but a signal the planet is sick, Pope Francis said in a new video announcing his prayer intention for the month of September. Source: NCR Online.
The Pope has requested that prayers in the coming month be focused “for the Cry of the Earth” – a reference to an oft-quoted passage from his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”
In that papal teaching document, Francis wrote that “we have to realise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor”.
Francis expanded on that theme in the video, released on Friday on social media and produced by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
“If we took the planet’s temperature, it will tell us that the Earth has a fever. And it is sick, just like anyone who’s sick. But are we listening to this pain?” Francis asks.
“Do we hear the pain of the millions of victims of environmental catastrophes? The ones suffering most from the consequences of these disasters are the poor, those who are forced to leave their homes because of floods, heat waves or drought,” he said.
Addressing human-caused environmental crises, like climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, “begs responses that are not only ecological but are also social, economic and political”, the Pope said.
“We must commit ourselves to the fight against poverty and the protection of nature, changing our personal and community habits,” he said.
This week, Francis will travel to southeast Asia and Oceania, where he is expected to spotlight the plight of island nations facing rising seas and stronger storms exacerbated by climate change.
FULL STORY
Soaring temps a sign the planet is sick – are we listening? Pope Francis asks (By Brian Roewe, NCR Online)
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Pope’s September prayer intention: For the cry of the earth (By Christopher Wells, Vatican News)
