Though absent from the COP-28 summit in Dubai due to ongoing concerns for his health, Pope Francis sent a message for the inauguration of the first-ever Faith Pavilion at a United Nations climate event, stressing the responsibility of religious leaders in caring for the planet, reports Crux.
In prepared remarks read aloud by Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Pope Francis thanked the various representatives present for the December 3 inauguration of the COP-28 Faith Pavilion, including the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for their presence.
Pope Francis speaks during a December 3 video message for the inauguration of the Faith Pavilion at the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai, UAE. IMAGE: Vatican Media/Screenshot/via Crux.)
The Faith Pavilion, the Pope said, “is the first of its kind at the heart of a COP, and it shows that all authentic religious beliefs are a source of encounter and action”.
“It is important to see ourselves, beyond our differences, as brothers and sisters in the one human family, and, as believers, to remind ourselves and the world that, as sojourners on this earth, we have a duty to protect our common home,” he said.
Religions are a reminder that humanity is finite and has limits, Francis said, insisting that life must be protected and that this is done by “opposing the rapacious illusion of omnipotence that is devastating our planet”.
“That insatiable desire for power wells up whenever we consider ourselves lords of the world, whenever we live as though God did not exist and, as a result, end up prey to passing things,” he said.
When this happens, human beings become “mere commodities, desensitised, incapable of sorrow and compassion, self-absorbed and, turning our backs on morality and prudence, we destroy the very sources of life,” the Pope said.
This, he said, “is why the problem of climate change is also a religious problem: its roots lie in the creature’s presumption of self-sufficiency”.
Calling attendees to action, Pope Francis said there is an urgent need to act “for the sake of the environment” and that it is not enough to simply increase spending. Rather, “We need to change our way of life and thus educate everyone to sober and fraternal lifestyles.”
“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 said, saying, “A world poor in contemplation will be a world polluted in soul, a world that will continue to discard people and produce waste.”
This is an abridged form of an article by Elise Ann Allen, published in Crux. Read the full story here.
To read more on the outcomes of the COP28 meeting, click here for the ABC News report.