“God will ask us if we have cultivated and kept this world that he created.” Pope Leo XIV does not use minor terms and his warning resonates strong from Castel Gandolfo, where he intervened to celebrate the ten years of the encyclical Laudato si ‘of his predecessor, Pope Francis. A clear speech, his, who leaves no room for interpretations and which points the finger at those who still deny the evidence of the climatic crisis.
During the international conference “Raising Hope for Climate Justice”, in front of an audience of religious leaders, scientists and representatives of civil society, the pontiff launched a direct attack on those who “have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming and even blame the poor for what they are most striking”. Words that sound like a criticism not too veiled to the President of the United States Donald Trump, who only a few weeks ago defined the movement for the climate “the greatest scam ever perpetrated against the world”.
Moreover, the Pope born in Chicago is not new to direct interventions in the US debate. Recently, the Catholic Right of the Overseas has launched on ethical and social issues, questioning the consistency of certain positions. “Those who say they are against abortion but in favor of the death penalty is not truly pro-life,” said Leone XIV, aka Robert Francis Prevost.
The solution: ecological conversion and pressure from the bottom
This full approach to the “cure” is also reflected in the environmental message. There is no room for “indifference nor for resignation”, the Pope has warned. The urgency is that of an “ecological conversion” which is based on “full ecology”, based on four pillars: the relationship “with God, with others, with nature and with himself”.
The pontiff then launched an appeal to citizens from all over the world, exhorting them to exert a concrete and constant pressure on governments. “If citizens do not supervise political – national, regional and municipal power – it is not possible to counter environmental damage,” he said. A reference to individual and collective responsibility, because “only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage caused to the environment”.
The intervention is in a crucial moment, just over a month after the Cop30 to be held in Belém, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon. An appointment to which the Minister of the Brazilian environment, Marina Silva, formally invited the Pope, convinced that his presence can make an “indispensable contribution” to the success of the summit.
The former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was also present at the “If there is a hero in action here – Leone XIV replied to the arm – It is all of you who worked together”.
