CAFOD: In Laudate Si, Pope Francis is challenging us to act + PETITION

In the most radical encyclical focused on environmental issues, Laudato Si', Pope Francis has today challenged the world to act on the greatest threats facing the human family: climate change, growing global inequality and the destruction of nature. These threats are, the Pope says, a result of a world which has put profit and the drive for relentless growth above all other considerations.

In a historic move Pope Francis has deliberately timed the publication of the encyclical, Laudato Si', to influence the key political processes taking place in this crucial year for humanity, namely the agreement of 17 new poverty reduction goals in September and an international deal to reduce carbon emissions in December. These meetings have the potential to impact the lives of millions of the world's poorest people.

The Pope has consistently spoken about his concern for the world's poorest people who suffer most from the ruthless pursuit of wealth, which treats God's creation as a possession rather than a gift for us to care for and use for the benefit of all. Today's encyclical is further encouragement for our Catholic family to live a life of simplicity, sustainability and solidarity with the poor.

"Pope Francis is reading the signs of his times and telling us that the human and environmental costs of our current way of life are simply too high," said Neil Thorns, Director of Advocacy at CAFOD.

"Our political leaders need to think about how they want to be remembered, as they have an opportunity now, as do we all, to be remembered as the generation that stood up and took responsibility."

In the encyclical, Pope Francis urges society to move away from plundering the Earth's resources, and calls on us to recognise that development which fails to respect the Earth is a false economy. Far from telling us how we must live, he calls for an open dialogue in society about how best to tackle the global issues we face, including climate change, and a bottom up approach that puts care for the very poorest at the centre of the way we live our lives.

In the words of Pope Francis, "Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years... All is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start."

Links:

CAFOD Encyclical resources: www.cafod.org.uk/Pray/Encyclical

PETITION: Ask David Cameron to prevent climate change pushing people deeper into poverty

www.cafod.org.uk/Campaign/One-Climate-One-World/climate-petition