Vatican Radio reports on the “Climate and Health” 68th World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, where Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi c.s., gave an adress.
In his presentation the Claude Rains-ish archbishop discussed the respect and protection of nature, technology, and the role of various nations in health and environmental issues.
It is a great honour to address this distinguished panel and audience on a topic of such urgent importance, not only to the technical and scientific community but to all people now living on our planet and, most especially, to the future generations who will follow in our footsteps.
The moral imperative to respect and protect nature is not a new topic for faith traditions. The Jewish and Christian Scriptures are replete with such exhortations, and most of the major religious traditions offer similar commandments. Man is not the owner of creation but its steward. In more recent times, the leadership of the Catholic Church has publicly and forcefully expressed concern about the damage to nature being caused by a privileged few, while the health and overall wellbeing of the vast majority of humans is being threatened through no fault of their own. Pope Benedict XVI, expressed such grave concern on this issue that he was popularly labelled as the “green Pope”. Pope Francis continued this tradition and has encouraged a more profound reflection on this global concern. I am sure you are well aware already of the ongoing preparation of a special teaching document on climate justice, about which United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said: “I very much look forward to the upcoming encyclical by Pope Francis. It will convey to the world that protecting our environment is an urgent moral imperative and a sacred duty for all people of faith and people of conscience. It is critically important that people and their leaders hear your strong moral voice in the coming months.”
So the ancient scriptures, all the popes including the most recent and credibly Catholic Pope Benedict, and that UN-Vatican farce conference all agree this is urgent, urgent.
These religious leaders and technical experts left no further room for denial under the mistaken guise of so-called religious belief when they declared that human-induced climate change is a scientific reality. They acknowledged the “very vital role” played by religions through their affirmation of “the inherent dignity of every individual linked to the common good of all humanity” as well as “the beauty, wonder, and inherent goodness of the natural world.” They proclaimed as “our moral duty to respect rather than ravage the garden that is our home.” They noted the particular vulnerability experienced by poor and excluded people who are menaced by “dire threats from climate disruptions, including the increased frequency of droughts, extreme storms, heat waves, and rising sea levels.”
Don’t dare call your climate-denying a ‘religious belief!’ There’s nothing Catholic about climate skepticism, right Archbishop?
So they had a conference with the UN and a bunch of ‘experts’ and now they know that poor and excluded people are menaced by dire threats? How can anyone possibly believe this? What a perfect atheist idea to start calling this bunk ‘faith’ then turning it ‘c’atholic.