Posted on 04/22/2020 4:50:54 AM PDT by yardboyd
VATICAN CITY, April 22 (Reuters) - Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for protection of the environment on Wednesday's 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, saying the coronavirus pandemic had shown that some challenges had to be met with a global response.
Francis praised the environmental movement, saying it was necessary for young people to "take to the streets to teach us what is obvious, that is, that there will be no future for us if we destroy the environment that sustains us".
The pope, who wrote a major encyclical in 2015 on the defence of nature and the dangers of climate change, dedicated his general audience - broadcast from his library because of the coronavirus lockdown - to the theme.
Recounting a Spanish proverb that God always forgives, man sometimes forgives but nature never forgives, Francis said: "If we have deteriorated the Earth, the response will be very ugly."
A landmark in the emergence of the environmental movement when it first took place in 1970, this year's Earth Day has prompted calls from many, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for governments to pursue "green recovery" in response to coronavirus
Both the pope and Guterres have made environmental protection and climate change signature themes of their offices.
"We see these natural tragedies, which are the Earth's response to our maltreatment," Francis said. "I think that if I ask the Lord now what he thinks about this, I don't think he would say it is a very good thing. It is we who have ruined the work of God."
Saying the Earth was not an endless deposit of resources to exploit, he said: "We have sinned against the Earth, against our neighbour and, in the end, against the creator."
Last year, after a synod of bishops from the Amazon region, Francis said he was considering adding a definition of "ecological sins" in the Roman Catholic Church's Catechism, a compendium of teachings and rules.
Francis, like Guterres, has likened the response to environmental dangers to that of the coronavirus.
"Only together, and looking after the most fragile (members of society) can we win global challenges," the pope said.
So far, massive economic stimulus packages launched by the United States, China and European governments have focused mainly on staunching the damage to existing industries and staving off the threat of a global depression.
But ministers from Germany, France and other EU members have signalled their support for subsequent interventions to align with climate goals, a theme taken up by climate campaign groups around the world. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Hey pope.....it;s GOD!!!
Wow, this guy takes the prize for....
I read a Christian fiction book a few decades ago called, This Present Darkness. In it was this “fake” church where the pastor and the message were all about environmentalism instead of the message of Christ.
And here we are...
I read a Christian fiction book a few decades ago called, This Present Darkness. In it was this “fake” church where the pastor and the message were all about environmentalism instead of the message of Christ.
And here we are...
Gaia is a jealous and merciless god. We must make sacrifices and offerings to Gaia so that she will spare us from her wrath. The Pope has spoken.
Then she has a bone to pick with God.
The pagan pope.
If Dope Frankie thinks the world is in terrible shape now, why doesn’t he explain how much better it was 2,000 years ago — when the apostles had to take a dump and there were no sanitary sewers?
More nonsense from the fake Pope.And I am Catholic.
The Pope speaks against the commands of the Creator as expressed in ‘genesis, “Be fruitful and multiply.” The Lord gave us every good thing which he had created for us to have authority over. We are the Masters of nature, not its subjects.
Does the Pope worship God or Gaia?
Rhetorical question.
Worst Pope Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You got that right.
What he is saying is there there is no God.
Where did they find this kook?
The commie Latino Pomposity yet again decries any need for the exercise of free will given by God to every human being.
Just listen to the new Mussolini dressed in the robes of St. Peter.
Who is yer daddy?
Not the Pope, that’s for sure.God already gave human beings dominion over the Earth.now the Pope wants to have dominion himself. Thats a “baddy.” The answer to al;l problems according to commies is totalitarianism. As if that ever works, except fpor those like the pope who want to be at the zenith of a totalitarian system.
This is the deal Popey dahling!
” Genesis 1:28.... And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
“We have sinned against the Earth, against our neighbour and, in the end, against the creator.”
He has that exactly bassackwards.
To hell with you Popy. Actually that’s where you’re going anyway.
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