Warm welcome for Pope’s ‘significant’ climate change message

Read the full article by Patsy McGarry on the Irish Times

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Radical rethinking

In Dublin, Christian Aid’s head of advocacy and policy Sorley McCaughey praised Pope Francis for his call for a radical rethinking of humanity’s relationship with the earth and urged both people of faith in all walks of life, and especially politicians, to heed his appeal for action to address climate change.

“The hallmark of Pope Francis’ ministry has been his care for the poor. You can’t claim to care for the poor and ignore climate change. Climate change is not just a scientific phenomenon, or a political football, it is a moral issue which demands an ethical response,” he said.

He hoped “the Pope’s game changing intervention will light a rocket under politicians who need to show the same kind of urgency being demonstrated by the Vatican.”

Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland chief executive, said Pope Francis’ call to action was “unprecedented” and “reminds us that climate change is first and foremost about people”.

It was the case that “only when world leaders heed the Pope’s moral leadership on these two defining issues, inequality and climate change, will our societies become safer, more prosperous and more equal,” he said.

The Women’s Ordination Conference, which campaigns for women’s equality in the Catholic Church, said it “ applauds Pope Francis for awakening global consciousness about the exploitation and suffering of our natural and spiritual world in his encyclical.”

It said “we share Pope Francis’ message of interconnectivity, co-responsibility, dialogue and transparency in decision-making. We pray for our common home as well as our Church, as places where these values are not yet fully realized.”

Call to action

David Nussbaum, chief executive of WWF-UK, said the papal encyclical was “a clear call to action for everyone, everywhere”.

“ I am hugely encouraged that the pope has clearly laid out how humans and nature are intrinsically linked and that economic, social and ecological justice are indivisible,” he said.

Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said the pope had made a “valuable intervention in humanity’s common struggle to prevent catastrophic climate change”.

“This first encyclical on the environment brings the world a step closer to that tipping point where we abandon fossil fuels and fully embrace clean renewable energy for all, by the middle of the century.

“Everyone, whether religious or secular, can and must respond to this clarion call for bold urgent action.”