Vatican City.- Leo XIV denounced that nature has “sometimes become an instrument of exchange, a good that is negotiated to obtain economic or political advantages”, in a message published this Wednesday for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation that the Church celebrates on September 1st.
“In various parts of the world it is already evident that our earth is deteriorating” and “everywhere, injustice, the violation of international law and the rights of peoples, inequalities and the greed that derives from them produce deforestation, pollution and loss of biodiversity,” he pointed out.
The
pope denounced that “there is still no awareness that destroying nature does not harm everyone in the same way” because “trampling on justice and peace means affecting above all the poorest, the marginalized, the excluded and in this context, the suffering of indigenous communities is emblematic.”
He also condemned that nature has become
“sometimes an instrument of exchange, a good that is traded to obtain economic or political advantages.”
“Creation – he explained – is transformed into a battlefield for the control of vital resources, as demonstrated by agricultural areas and forests that have become dangerous due to mines, the scorched earth policy, the conflicts that erupt around water sources, the unequal distribution of raw materials, which penalizes the weakest populations and undermines their own social stability.”
He asserted that all these wounds to the environment
“are a consequence of sin,” because “undoubtedly, this is not what God had in mind when he entrusted the Earth to man created in his image.”
And he reiterated that
“environmental justice can no longer be considered an abstract concept or a distant goal. It represents an urgent need that goes beyond the simple protection of the environment” and that
“in reality, it is a matter of social, economic and anthropological justice”,
For Catholics, he underlined,
“it is also a theological requirement”.
“In a world where the most fragile are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change, deforestation, and pollution, the care of creation becomes a matter of faith and humanity,” he said, before asserting that “it is time to move from words to deeds.”
