Pope Francis, together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Justin Welby have for the first time come together to jointly appeal to people to do what they can for the future of our planet.
They have called for us all to pray during this Season of Creation, for our world leaders ahead of the United Nations climate talks (COP26) in November this year.
“We call on everyone, whatever their belief or worldview, to endeavour to listen to the cry of the earth and of people who are poor, examining their behaviour and pledging meaningful sacrifices for the sake of the earth which God has given us.”
The joint statements warns that we are currently paying the price and that the future will be worse if we do not act now, stating that this is a critical moment and that the future of the earth and of our children depend on our actions today.
“We stand before a harsh justice: biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and climate change are the inevitable consequences of our actions, since we have greedily consumed more of the earth’s resources than the planet can endure. But we also face a profound injustice: the people bearing the most catastrophic consequences of these abuses are the poorest on the planet and have been the least responsible for causing them.”
You can read the full joint statement here: A Joint Message for the Protection of Creation