Pope Francis suggests in his encyclical on the environment Laudato si’ that to recover harmony with Creation, “people ought to reflect on their lifestyles and ideals, in order to contemplate the Creator, who lives in us and in what surrounds us.”
In a message delivered Monday to the COP20 forum, organized by the Peruvian government in Lima, Aug. 24-28, Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, recalled the Holy Father’s above recommendation and reaffirmed Francis’ call for faithful to “assume a new ecological spirituality which favors the bond between man and environment, through an integral, ecological, community conversion,” reported Vatican Radio.
Marking the second international gathering for discussions on climate change, the five-day COP20 forum is a global initiative which gives nations the chance to present plans targeted at reducing carbon emissions. It looks toward the Paris conference on climate change taking place later this year.
Cardinal Turkson also expressed his hope that the conference would promote a “deeper ecological conversion, able to reflect itself in the different aspects of human life: in one’s lifestyle, education, in the dialogue between science, culture and faith, and in national politics and international negotiations.”
A presentation of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ opened the conference. Some 250 people, including experts, policymakers and religious leaders, attended and analyzed the long-awaited document from economic, scientific, theological and political points of view. (D.C.L.)
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