Vatican Messages

Concerned About Copenhagen, Pope Benedict XVI Urges New Agreement

In an address to the diplomatic corps serving the Holy See, Pope Benedict reiterated themes from his World Day of Peace Message and also said, I share the growing concern caused by economic and political resistance to combating the degradation of the environment. This problem was evident [at the meeting in Denmark last December]. He expressed hope that an agreement will be reached in the Bonn and Mexico City meetings this year. He continued to make clear the connections between the respect for human life and respect for Creation. If we wish to build true peace, how can we separate, or even set at odds, the protection of the environment and the protection of human life, including the life of the unborn? It is in man’s respect for himself that his sense of responsibility for creation is shown. To see his address to the diplomatic corps, click here.    

Benedict’s World Day of Peace Message calls attention to “the problems associated with climate change”

In a wide-ranging, prophetic, and challenging World Day of Peace message on climate change and environmental justice, Pope Benedict recalled for all of us our biblical tradition, highlighted teachings from previous popes and implored us to, rethink the path which we are traveling together.[5] The Holy Father poses challenging questions including, Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change,  desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity… and  the growing phenomenon of ‘environmental refugees?‘ We urge you to read the entire statement, If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.

A parish/school resource/study guide from the USCCB on the World Day of Peace message is available here. 

Pope Sends Powerful Message to Climate Change Summit
view video here

Pope Benedict XVI sent a compelling message to those gathering at the 2009 Summit on Climate Change when he conveyed his “support to leaders of governments and international agencies who soon will meet at the United Nations to discuss the urgent issue of climate change…. How important it is then, that the international community and individual governments send the right signals to their citizens and succeed in countering harmful ways of treating the environment!…The protection of the environment, and the safeguarding of resources and of the climate, oblige all leaders to act jointly, respecting the law and promoting solidarity with the weakest regions of the world” (Caritas in Veritate, no. 50).  

Read the entire statement

Holy Father’s Easter Message Highlights Climate Change

Our beloved Pope links the threat of climate change with so many other threats to life and dignity in his annual Easter message:

“At a time of world food shortage, of financial turmoil, of old and new forms of poverty, of disturbing climate change, of violence and deprivation which force many to leave their homelands in search of a less precarious form of existence, of the ever-present threat of terrorism, of growing fears over the future, it is urgent to rediscover grounds for hope. Let no one draw back from this peaceful battle that has been launched by Christ’s Resurrection. For as I said earlier, Christ is looking for men and women who will help him to affirm his victory using his own weapons: the weapons of justice and truth, mercy, forgiveness and love.“
-Pope Benedict XVI, Urbi et Orbi, Easter 2009

Read the entire statement

“The brutal consumption of Creation begins where God is not, where matter is henceforth only material for us, where we ourselves are the ultimate demand, where the whole is merely our property and we consume it for ourselves alone…I think, therefore, that true and effective initiatives to prevent the waste and destruction of Creation can be implemented and developed, understood and lived, only where Creation is considered as beginning with God.”
-Pope Benedict XVI, August 2008

Read the entire statement

“…make the responsibilities visible so that we may respond to this great challenge: to rediscover the Face of the Creator in Creation, to rediscover in the Creator’s presence our responsibilities for his Creation, which he has entrusted to us, to form the ethical capacity for a lifestyle that we must adopt if we wish to tackle the problems of this situation [of climate change] and if we really want to reach positive solutions.

“Do not be fooled by those who see you as just another consumer in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth…”

“My dear friends, God’s creation is one and it is good. The concerns for non-violence, sustainable development, justice and peace, and care for our environment are of vital importance for humanity.”
-Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day, June 2008

Read the entire statement

“Prudence does not mean failing to accept responsibilities and postponing decisions; it means being committed to making joint decisions after pondering responsibly the road to be taken, decisions aimed at strengthening that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying.

“If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations.”
-Pope Benedict XVI, World Day of Peace Message, December 2007

Read the entire statement