Earth Day demands urgent action from us all

Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ

Source: Vatican News

On Friday, millions of people across the continents gathered together for Earth Day, to draw attention to the need to safeguard our planet. Pope Francis issued a Tweet inviting everyone to protect the planet and halt the destruction of the planet.

"We all need to make a contribution to halt the destruction of our Common Home and to restore nature: governments, businesses and citizens - we must act like brothers and sisters who share the Earth, the common home that God has given us," he tweeted.

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Michael Czerny, interim Prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development reflected on why the Church cares so much about the Day. He said: "The Church cares very much about the Earth because the Earth was created by God, the same God who created all of us as siblings who are called to live together in our Common Home and take care of it."

"Earth Day is a day for remembering our belonging in this Common Home to one common family," and to remember "our very serious, and I would say, increasing responsibility to take good care of this one Common Home we have."

We celebrate Earth Day this year in the shadow of multiple serious, grave and menacing failures on the part of the human family to take this reality seriously. For this reason, Cardinal Czerny insisted, it is "an urgent day" to commemorate.

The Vatican Prefect also reflected on why it is so important to Pope Francis to bring attention to protecting the environment.

"Pope Francis has called us to pay attention to the environment, from practically the beginning of his pontificate and especially in his Laudato si'," the first ever encyclical by a Pope dedicated to the environment.

"But to answer your question as to why it is so important to the Pope, it is when we read the encyclical Fratelli tutti, we realize the profound importance that it is a single vocation to be siblings to one another, and to take care of our Common Home."

You cannot have one without the other. "So, that makes the call of Earth Day, to be responsible citizens on this Earth is so pressing.