Words from the Vatican
- IF YOU WANT TO CULTIVATE PEACE, PROTECT CREATION, POPE BENEDICT XVI'S MESSAGE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF WORLD DAY OF PEACE
At the beginning of this New Year, I wish to offer heartfelt greetings of peace to all Christian communities, international leaders, and people of good will throughout the world. For this XLIII World Day of Peace I have chosen the theme: If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. Respect for creation is of immense consequence, not least because “creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God’s works”...more.
- PAPAL LETTER TO MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYMPOSIUM RESTORING BALANCE: "THE GREAT MISSISSIPPI RIVER" From earliest times, water has always been acknowledged as a primary human good and an indispensable natural resource. Around the great rivers of the world, like the Mississippi, great cultures have developed, while over the course of the centuries the prosperity of countless societies has been linked to these waterways. Today, however, the great fluvial systems of every continent are exposed to serious threats, often as a result of man’s activity and decisions...more
- POPE STRESSES RELIGIOUS DIMENSION OF ECOLOGY - CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is calling for a discovery of the spiritual and religious dimensions in the defense of the environment and nature...more.
- PONTIFF: ITALY'S GREEN DAY "SIGNIFICANT" - CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, AUG. 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Ahead of Italy's Day for the Protection of Creation, Benedict XVI is urging people to commit themselves to safeguarding the environment. The Pope said this today to the crowds gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo to pray the midday Angelus. Italy will observe the day to protect the environment on Tuesday...more.
- The Earth is indeed a precious gift of the Creator who, in designing its intrinsic order, has given us bearings that guide us as stewards of his creation. Precisely from within this framework, the Church considers matters concerning the environment and its protection intimately linked to the theme of integral human development (General Audience 26 August 2009 - Safe Guarding Creation)
- The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction. There is need for what might be called a human ecology, correctly understood. The deterioration of nature is in fact closely connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence: when “human ecology”[124] is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits. Just as human virtues are interrelated, such that the weakening of one places others at risk, so the ecological system is based on respect for a plan that affects both the health of society and its good relationship with nature. Caritas Inveritate
- "My hope is that from the current global crisis there may emerge a shared desire to create a new culture of solidarity and of responsible participation, which are indispensable conditions if we are to build the future of our planet together". "May the sixtieth anniversary of the CISL", the Pope concluded, "be a cause to renew the original enthusiasm and rediscover your original charism. The world needs people who dedicate themselves disinterestedly to the cause of work in full respect of human dignity and the common good".
Pope Benedict XVI - January 31st 2009
- Learning to respect the environment also teaches respect for others and for oneself. In 1991, in his Encyclical Centesimus Annus, my beloved Predecessor John Paul II had already denounced the excessive and arbitrary consumption of resources, recalling that man is God's collaborator in the work of creation and cannot replace him. He also emphasized that humanity today "must be conscious of its duties and obligations towards future generations".
