by admin | Apr 23, 2021 | News and Updates
Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson and renowned environmentalist Jane Goodall called on Catholics and all people to care for biodiversity and to act on behalf of the poorest, including all members of creation, as we work together against the climate crisis.
During the “Biodiversity Webinar: On the Road to COP15”, Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, shared the importance of biodiversity for the church, the Christian tradition, and for human development by recognizing the earth as our common home.
The pandemic alerts us that “When nature is sick, humanity is sick”.
The cardinal insists that we must review our lifestyles and consumption patterns because they are dependent variables and we are interconnected. These crises are a consequence of our behavior.
He stresses the importance for the Vatican and the Social Teaching of the Church to recognize that God’s creation is a sacred gift made by Him and that every creature has an intrinsic value, being a demonstration of God’s love for us.
Creatures cry out to us for help, they cry out for us to listen to them, not to allow them to be lost forever.
We owe an ecological debt to future generations for the destruction and exploitation we have caused in this world.
It calls us to reflect on different ways to respond to these challenges.
Just as the church has raised its prophetic voice to provide a spiritual basis for the protection of the poor and the protection of biodiversity, we should protect and sustain human life and all life in creation.
Dr. Jane Goodall, renowned environmentalist, said that if we have a wonderful green planet that has been created by God, then how is it possible that the most intelligent creature that has ever walked on this planet is destroying it?
The pain in the world is caused by the total lack of respect we have for nature and the natural world.
Climate change is one of the main causes affecting biodiversity problems. What can we do in order to solve this great disaster?
What can we do first? We need to slow down our unsustainable life rhythm.
There is a lot to change, eliminating poverty. We can’t save the chimpanzees and the environment if we don’t go to people first.
What we need to do is to put aside our destructive use of fossil fuels and look for renewable energies.There are many beings, not only humans, who are suffering in this world, and we need to think about the future generations who have been robbed of their future for years.
There are many young people who are not going to give up. They are going to fight for the rights of animals and nature until they are respected and protected, not only for what they give us but for what they are in their own right.
The event was organized by the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (DSDHI) and the Vatican COVID-19 Commission, in collaboration with its partners LISTEN, GCCM, REBAC, RAOEN, CIDSE, CYNESA, USG and UISG, ISVUMI, the Columban Missionaries, the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
