Cathal BarryPope Francis has penned a stinging critique of humanity’s treatment of the environment, urging people to take action to combat the reality of climate change.
In his much anticipated encyclical, Laudato Si (Praise be to you), the Pope sets out an “urgent challenge” to protect the environment from any further destruction, calling on society to work together “to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change”.
“I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.
“We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all,” he said.
Good news
Welcoming the new encyclical, Archbishop Eamon Martin said the document was “good news” for the Church.
The Archbishop of Armagh urged Catholics in Ireland to read the encyclical and to “reflect” on some of its key points, adding that he supported the Pope’s call for a “global ecological conversion, a conversion which begins with each one of us, a conversion which must begin now”.
Trócaire’s executive director Eamonn Meehan said that the encyclical should mark a “turning point” in the global response to environmental justice and particularly climate change.
Noting that the encyclical was “one of the most significant” Church documents in a generation, Mr Meehan said Laudato Si serves as a “powerful wake-up call to a world sleep-walking into disaster”.
“Pope Francis has clearly aligned the Catholic Church with calls for urgent political action to reduce carbon emissions and set the world on the path to a sustainable future.
“We are custodians of this planet and we have a clear moral obligation to ensure that everyone has access to its abundant resources and that we hand it to future generations in a condition that is compatible with life,” he said.