Pope stages climate debate
Invites scientists, business leaders to conference
Pope Francis summoned scientists, government officials and religious leaders to a villa in the manicured Vatican Gardens on Tuesday as he stepped into the heated climate-change debate.
“Climate change is a defining issue of our time,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told attendees at the Vatican conference. “It is a moral issue, it is an issue of social justice, human rights and fundamental ethics.”
The conference, which is being held under the auspices of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, precedes a papal encyclical scheduled for publication in June. The encyclical, a letter to the world’s bishops but with broader resonance because of the pope’s moral and political authority, will aim to influence a UN summit in Paris at the end of the year, at which nations may pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The pontiff’s action “is the most aggressive of any pope,” said John Thavis, author of The Vatican Diaries. “Francis won’t just repeat platitudes in the encyclical about our being stewards of creation, he wants to engage scientific and political leaders, and influence public policy.”
“Corporations and financial investors must learn to put longterm sustainability over shortterm profit and to recognize that the financial bottom line is secondary to and at the service of the common good,” Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told the scientists, government representatives, religious leaders and business figures.
Although the encyclical is so far secret, the official program for the Vatican conference offers some clues as to what the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics will write.
The notes say the goal is to raise awareness “with a special focus on the most vulnerable” and “to elevate the debate on the moral dimensions of protecting the environment.” It also seeks to build “a global movement across all religions for sustainable development.”
The outcome, the notes add, will be a statement on “the moral and religious imperative” of sustainable development, underscoring “respect for people — especially the poor, the excluded, victims of human trafficking and modern slavery, children and future generations.”
These themes echo the 78-yearold pope’s call for “a poor church for the poor” just after his election in March 2013, and his choice of the papal name “Francis,” itself harking back to Saint Francis of Assisi. The saint lived in poverty and was declared the patron saint of ecology by Pope John Paul II in 1979 for his love of animals and the environment. According to Vatican watchers, the pope is expected to insist that both rich and developing nations have an obligation to fund measures against climate change, despite several developing countries blaming richer nations.
“For Francis climate change has a scientific side, but we all have to discuss the moral issues too. He sees climate change weighing the most on the poorest people, and he’ll likely say that developing countries have the political and economic power to act,” Thavis said.