On Sunday, Pope Francis stated that all world religions must unite together to oppose the “rapacious” destruction of the environment.
The 86-year-old Pope Francis had planned to preside over the opening of the Faith Pavilion at the C0P28 climate summit in Dubai, but a lung irritation compelled him to stay in Rome.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, read the pope’s message in his place, as he did during Francis’ main address to the summit on Saturday.
“Religions, as conscience voices for humanity, remind us that we are finite creatures with a need for the infinite,” the pope remarked, stressing that the Faith Pavilion was a first at a COP summit.
“For we are indeed mortal, we have our limits, and protecting life also entails opposing the rapacious illusion of omnipotence that is devastating our planet,” he went on to say.
Religions, he argued, “need to act urgently for the sake of the environment,” encourage their members to live “sober and fraternal lifestyles” rather than wasteful ones, and push for a return to individual contemplation of nature’s majesty.
“This is an essential obligation for religions, which are called to teach contemplation, since creation is not only an ecosystem to preserve, but also a gift to embrace,” he stated.
“A world poor in contemplation will be a world polluted in soul, a world that will continue to discard people and produce waste,” he went on to say.
On Saturday, Francis reiterated his appeal for the abolition of fossil fuels in his keynote presentation to the conference.
Hundreds of Catholic institutions worldwide have announced plans to divest.
However, a Reuters investigation discovered that in the United States, the world’s largest oil and gas producer and home to roughly a fifth of the Catholic population, not a single diocese has announced the sale of its fossil fuel holdings.
In his address to faith leaders, Francis also stated that peace and environmental care are inextricably linked.
“Before our very eyes, we can see how wars and conflicts are harming the environment and dividing nations, hindering a common commitment to addressing shared problems like the protection of the planet,” the president added.
