JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
POPE SAYS GAYS CAN MARRY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
FALSE POPE FROM THE VATICAN
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten
seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of
seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go
about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody,
sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall
come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit
Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with
all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE
70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE
WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND
CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET
ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR
TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-13
11
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN
POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he
spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR
FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he (FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER) exerciseth all the
power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the
earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION
AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REVELATION 17:1-5,9,15-18
1
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and
talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the
judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With
whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN
POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into
the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast,
full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And
the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES
FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of
her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
9
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS
OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are
fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one
is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet
come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED
ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE
EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL
HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR
TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE
EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION
TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE
THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD
OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE
EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS
CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
15 And he saith unto me, The
waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE
WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the
beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her
desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with
fire.(BOMB OR NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts
to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast,
until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,(VATICAN) which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
THE
FUTURE FALSE RELIGIOUS WORLDY POWER HUNGRY ONE WORLD CHURCH LEADER THE
POPE IS AT IT AGAIN.THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WILL NOW ALLOW SODOMITE RAINBOW
GROUPERS OR HOMOSEXUALES TO GET MARIED IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. BUT THE
POPE REFUSES TO DO THE BEST THING FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. WHICH WOULD
ALLOW WOMEN TO PREACH AND TEACH. AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BETTER ALLOW
PREACHERS TO MARRY WOMEN IN THE CHURCH. MY BIBLE SAYS IF YOUR A PREACHER
BE A HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE. NOT BE FORCED TO BE CELIBET AND THEN
COMMITTING PEDOPHILIA WITH FORNICATION WITH ALTER BOYS. AND THEN IF YOUR
CHURCH GETS CAUGHT. JUST FORCE THE PEDOPHILE PRIEST TO GO TO A LONG
DISTANT CHURCH SUCH AS SOUTH AFRICA. ONLY TO LET HIM CONTINE BEING A
FORNICATING PEDOPHILE. OR PAY OFF THE FAMILY OF THE VICTIM TO SHUT THEM
UP ABOUT THE PEDOPHILE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS
AGAINST GOD HIMSELF WHO WROTE THE BIBLE. THE BIBLE SAYS PREACHERS CAN
MARRY WOMEN. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAYS BE CELIBUT AND BECOME A SECRET
HOMOSEXUAL AND COMMITT FORNICATION WITH YOUNG BOYS. THE BIBLE SAYS WOMEN
CAN BE LEADERS IN THE CHURCH. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH REFUSES TO LET WOMEN
BE LEADERS IN THE CHURCH. MY BIBLE SAYS TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY IS TO
BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAYS WHEN YOU DIE YOU SIT
IN PURGATORY TILL YOU GET PRAYED OUT. OR PAY ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THEM
OUTTA PERGATORY. BUT THE BIGGEST BLASPEMY BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS
THEY MUST GET TO JESUS THREW MARY. THIS IS THE FALEST THING IN THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH. CATHOLICS ALSO BELIEVE YOU GOT TO CALL ON A GUARDIAN
ANGEL TO PRAY WITH. TO GET YOUR PRAYER TO MARY. FALSE-MARY WAS ONLY A
HUMAN PERSON. NO GOD. AN ANGEL TOLD HER AS A VIRGIN HUMAN BEING. THAT
SHE WOULD BE CARRYING JESUS WHO IS EMANUAL OR GOD WITH US ON EARTH. AND
SHE TOLD THE ANGEL I AM A VIRGIN GAL. I HAVE NOT HAD SEX WITH A MAN. HOW
CAN THIS BE. SO MARY WAS ONLY THE MOTHER OF JESUS. NOT THE GOD JESUS
WHO IS THE ONLY ONE WHO ANSWERS PRAYER. THE CATHOLICS CAN PRAY AND
FIDDLE WITH 1 MILLION SO CALLED PRAYER BEEDS. BUT IF THEY PRAY TO MARY.
ITS A USELESS PRAYER. YOU MUST PRAY TO THE FATHER GOD (AND NOT THE
CATHOLIC FATHER PRIEST). THE PRAYING IS TO THE FATHER AND AT THE END OF
THE PRAYER IN JESUS NAME ONLY. NOT MARY, NOT POT BELLY BUHDA, ALLAH OR
ANY OTHER CULTIC GOD OUT THERE. THAT WERE ONLY MEN. JESUS' NAME IS THE
POWER. AND JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET SAVED. YOU CAN'T BELIEVE MARY
HEALS AS WELL AS ALL THESE FALSE MIRACLES MARY DOES. WHEN MARY WAS ONLY
THE MOTHER OF JESUS. A HUMAN WOMEN. SO PRAYING TO MARY TO GET TO JESUS
TO BE SAVED IS COMPLETE REDICULASNESS. WHEN WE PRAY ITS DIRECTLY TO THE
FATHER IN JESUS NAME. ANY OTHER WAY IF YOUR PRAYER GETS ANSWERED IS
BECAUSE SATAN IS DELUTING YOU TO BELIEVE THE LIE. AND END UP IN HELL FOR
WORSHIPPING AN IDOL MARY, INSTEAD OF GOD JESUS HIMSELF. AND HOW WILL
POPE FRANCIS IN THE FUTURE GET CATHOLICS TO BELIEVE LIES IN THE ONE
WORLD CHURCH OF ANYBODY OR ANY BELIEF GOES AND ENCOURAGE ALL THE
CATHOLICS TO TAKE THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN THEIR RIGHT HAND OR
FORHEAD.FALSE MIRACLES JUST LIKE SATAN IS DOING TO THE CATHOLICS LIKE
BLEEDING STATUES AND PERITIONS OF MARY. FALSE MIRACLES AND LYING
WONDERS. SO CATHOLICS IF USE DO NOT WANNA BLASPHEEM AGAINST THE TRUE GOD
JESUS. USE BETTER START WORSHIPPING JESUS THE ALL HUMAN ALL GOD PERSON.
NOT THE MOTHER OF JESUS. WHO CAN NOT ANSWER A PRAYER IF YOU PAID A
BILLION DOLLARS TO SOMEBODY IN PURGATORY WHICH IS JUST AS FALSE AS THE
IDOL MARY WORSHIP. GODS WORD SAYS FILL THE EARTH WITH CHILDREN. THE POPE
SAYS CONTROL THE POPULATION AND GO GREEN. WORSHIP THE ENVIROMENT. THE
POPE EVEN SAID ALIENS CAN BE SAVED. THAT IS A EVIL DEMONIC SPIRIT THAT
THE POPE CLAIMES YOU CAN BAPTISE AND BE SAVED. ANOTHER LIE. THE 1/3 OF
THE DEMONS THAT GOT BOOTED OUT OF HEAVEN WITH SATAN AT THE FALL FROM
HEAVEN IN REV 12 FOR BEING PROUD AND HAVING EYE TROUBLES. FOR BEING
PROUD AND REBELLIOUS AND FOR THE ANGELS WORSHIPPING SATAN AND TRYING TO
OVER TAKE GOD IN HIS HEAVENLY KINGDOM. THESE DEMONIC DEVILS CAN NEVER
EVER GET SAVED. THEYDEMONIC ANGELS AFTER THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD.
AND JESUS 1,000 YEAR REIGN ON EARTH. WILL BE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE
FOREVER, NEVER ENDING. IN THE BIBLE IT SAYS AFTER THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION
PERIOD SATAN WILL BE LOCKED IN HELL SOMEWHERE WERE HE CAN NOT DECIEVE
THE WORLD NATIONS AGAIN. FOR PROBABLY AROUND 995 YEARS OR SO.OF THE 1000
YEAR REIGN OF CHRIST. THE BIBLE SAYS AFTER THE 1,000 YR REIGN OF JESUS
ON EARTH LITERALLY. SATAN MUST BE SET FREE FROM HIS HELL PRISON. TO TEST
ALL THE CHILDREN BORN DURING THAT 1,000 YEAR PERIOD. TO SEE IF THEY
REBELL AGAINST JESUS WHEN SATAN IS FREE TO DECIEVE THE PEOPLE ON EARTH
AGAIN. AND EVEN AFTER 1,000 YEARS OF PEACE, LOVE, JOY LITERALLY UNDER
JESUS' ROD OF IRON RULE. MILLIONS WILL REBELL AGAINST JESUS. AND FOR A
2ND TIME IN HISTORY. THEY WILL COME DOWN TO GATHER AGAINST JERUSALEM TO
TRY TO TAKE JESUS FROM HIS THRONE AND WORLD RULERSHIP. WELL JUST LIKE
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD. WHEN ALL
NATIONS ARMIES TRYED TO STOP JESUS FROM RULING ON EARTH FOR THE 1,000
YEAR REIGN. THEY WILL TRY TO NUKE JESUS OUT OF THE SKY AS WELL AS ALL
THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER. AS JESUS AND US RAPTURED
CHRISTIANS WILL BE RIDING ON WHITE HORSES AND COMING BACK TO EARTH TO
HAVE THE SUPPER OF THE LAMB TO RULE ON EARTH WITH JESUS FOREVER. AT THE
END OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD THE FALSE WORLD CHURCH PROPHET POPE
FRANCIS AS WELL AS THE WORLD EUROPEAN UNION POLITICIAN. WILL BE
LITERALLY THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE ALIVE NEVER DIE FOREVER WITH THEIR
NEVER DYING BODIES. TO BURN FOREVER. SO THESE 2 WILL BE THE FIRST 2 TO
EVER BE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER, NEVER ENDING. THE REST OF
THE LOST WILL STILL BE IN HELL TORMENTS NOT THE LAKE OF FIRE TILL AFTER
JESUS' 1,000 YEAR RULE ON EARTH. AND AFTER THE 1,000 YR RULE OF JESUS.
SATAN IS THEN THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER. THE LOST ARE THROWN IN
THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER. THE ONLY THING I AM NOT SURE ABOUT IS WHEN
THE DEMONS ARE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE. MY BELIEF IS THE DEMONS WILL
BE JUDGED BY JESUS AND US CHRISTIANS AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION
PERIOD. JESUS HAS TO JUDGE THE NATIONS OF EARTH HOW THEY TREATED THE
ISRAELIS DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD. ITS CALLED THE SHEEP, GOAT
NATIONS JUDGEMENT. MATHHEW 25. ALSO THE 12 VIRGIN JUDGENT ACURRS AT THE
END OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD OR JUST BEFORE JESUS JUDGES THE GOAT
NATIONS TO BE THROWN IN THE LAKE OF FIRE. AND SINCE THERES NO MENTION OF
THE DEMONS BEING LOCKED IN THE PIT FOR THE 1,000 YEAR RULE OF JESUS.
ONLY SATAN. AND SINCE ITS ONLY SATAN RELEASED FROM THE PIT. AFTER THE
1,000 YEARS. I BELIEVE US CHRISTIANS AFTER THE SUPPER OF THE LAMB WITH
JESUS ON EARTH. WE CHRISTIANS WILL BE JUDGING THE FALLIN DEMONIC ANGELS.
WHILE JESUS JUDGES THE HIM AND ISRAEL HATERS AND THE CHRISTIANS THAT
WERE THE HALF OF THE VIRGINS THAT MISSED JESUS' COMING. I MAY BE WRONG
ABOUT THE DEMONS JUDGEMENT. BUT IT DOES FIT WITH THE BIBLE TIMLINE. AND
JUDGEMENT AFTER THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD. BUT WE WILL HAVE TO SEE
ABOUT THAT. ONLY JESUS KNOWS FOR SURE.
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION-LAUDATE DEUM-OF THE HOLY FATHER-FRANCIS
TO ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILLON THE CLIMATE CRISIS
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html
1.
“Praise God for all his creatures”. This was the message that Saint
Francis of Assisi proclaimed by his life, his canticles and all his
actions. In this way, he accepted the invitation of the biblical Psalms
and reflected the sensitivity of Jesus before the creatures of his
Father: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither
toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not
clothed like one of these” (Mt 6:28-29). “Are not five sparrows sold for
two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight” (Lk
12:6). How can we not admire this tenderness of Jesus for all the beings
that accompany us along the way!
2. Eight years have passed
since I published the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, when I wanted to
share with all of you, my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet,
my heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home. Yet, with the
passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been
adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be
nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is
indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly
prejudice the lives and families of many persons. We will feel its
effects in the areas of healthcare, sources of employment, access to
resources, housing, forced migrations, etc.
3. This is a global
social issue and one intimately related to the dignity of human life.
The Bishops of the United States have expressed very well this social
meaning of our concern about climate change, which goes beyond a merely
ecological approach, because “our care for one another and our care for
the earth are intimately bound together. Climate change is one of the
principal challenges facing society and the global community. The
effects of climate change are borne by the most vulnerable people,
whether at home or around the world”. [1] In a few words, the Bishops
assembled for the Synod for Amazonia said the same thing: “Attacks on
nature have consequences for people’s lives”. [2] And to express bluntly
that this is no longer a secondary or ideological question, but a drama
that harms us all, the African bishops stated that climate change makes
manifest “a tragic and striking example of structural sin”. [3]
4.
The reflection and information that we can gather from these past eight
years allow us to clarify and complete what we were able to state some
time ago. For this reason, and because the situation is now even more
pressing, I have wished to share these pages with you.
1. The Global Climate Crisis
5.
Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the
issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No
one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme
weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other
cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable
expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone. Admittedly, not
every concrete catastrophe ought to be attributed to global climate
change. Nonetheless, it is verifiable that specific climate changes
provoked by humanity are notably heightening the probability of extreme
phenomena that are increasingly frequent and intense. For this reason,
we know that every time the global temperature increases by 0.5° C, the
intensity and frequency of great rains and floods increase in some areas
and severe droughts in others, extreme heat waves in some places and
heavy snowfall in others. [4] If up to now we could have heat waves
several times a year, what will happen if the global temperature
increases by 1.5° C, which we are approaching? Those heat waves will be
much more frequent and with greater intensity. If it should rise above 2
degrees, the icecaps of Greenland and a large part of Antarctica [5]
will melt completely, with immensely grave consequences for everyone.
Resistance and confusion
6.
In recent years, some have chosen to deride these facts. They bring up
allegedly solid scientific data, like the fact that the planet has
always had, and will have, periods of cooling and warming. They forget
to mention another relevant datum: that what we are presently
experiencing is an unusual acceleration of warming, at such a speed that
it will take only one generation – not centuries or millennia – in
order to verify it. The rise in the sea level and the melting of
glaciers can be easily perceived by an individual in his or her
lifetime, and probably in a few years many populations will have to move
their homes because of these facts.
7. In order to ridicule
those who speak of global warming, it is pointed out that intermittent
periods of extreme cold regularly occur. One fails to mention that this
and other extraordinary symptoms are nothing but diverse alternative
expressions of the same cause: the global imbalance that is provoking
the warming of the planet. Droughts and floods, the dried-up lakes,
communities swept away by seaquakes and flooding ultimately have the
same origin. At the same time, if we speak of a global phenomenon, we
cannot confuse this with sporadic events explained in good part by local
factors.
8. Lack of information leads to confusion between
large-scale climate projections that involve long periods of time – we
are talking about decades at least – with weather forecasts that at most
can cover a few weeks. When we speak of climate change, we are
referring to a global reality – and constant local variations – that
persists for several decades.
9. In an attempt to simplify
reality, there are those who would place responsibility on the poor,
since they have many children, and even attempt to resolve the problem
by mutilating women in less developed countries. As usual, it would seem
that everything is the fault of the poor. Yet the reality is that a
low, richer percentage of the planet contaminates more than the poorest
50% of the total world population, and that per capita emissions of the
richer countries are much greater than those of the poorer ones. [6] How
can we forget that Africa, home to more than half of the world’s
poorest people, is responsible for a minimal portion of historic
emissions?
10. It is often heard also that efforts to mitigate
climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and developing
cleaner energy sources will lead to a reduction in the number of jobs.
What is happening is that millions of people are losing their jobs due
to different effects of climate change: rising sea levels, droughts and
other phenomena affecting the planet have left many people adrift.
Conversely, the transition to renewable forms of energy, properly
managed, as well as efforts to adapt to the damage caused by climate
change, are capable of generating countless jobs in different sectors.
This demands that politicians and business leaders should even now be
concerning themselves with it.
Human causes
11. It is no
longer possible to doubt the human – “anthropic” – origin of climate
change. Let us see why. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, which causes global warming, was stable until the nineteenth
century, below 300 parts per million in volume. But in the middle of
that century, in conjunction with industrial development, emissions
began to increase. In the past fifty years, this increase has
accelerated significantly, as the Mauna Loa observatory, which has taken
daily measurements of carbon dioxide since 1958, has confirmed. While I
was writing Laudato Si’, they hit a historic high – 400 parts per
million – until arriving at 423 parts per million in June 2023. [7] More
than 42% of total net emissions since the year 1850 were produced after
1990. [8]
12. At the same time, we have confirmed that in the
last fifty years the temperature has risen at an unprecedented speed,
greater than any time over the past two thousand years. In this period,
the trend was a warming of 0.15° C per decade, double that of the last
150 years. From 1850 on, the global temperature has risen by 1.1° C,
with even greater impact on the polar regions. At this rate, it is
possible that in just ten years we will reach the recommended maximum
global ceiling of 1.5° C. [9] This increase has not occurred on the
earth’s surface alone but also several kilometres higher in the
atmosphere, on the surface of the oceans and even in their depths for
hundreds of metres. Thus the acidification of the seas increased and
their oxygen levels were reduced. The glaciers are receding, the snow
cover is diminishing and the sea level is constantly rising. [10]
13.
It is not possible to conceal the correlation of these global climate
phenomena and the accelerated increase in greenhouse gas emissions,
particularly since the mid-twentieth century. The overwhelming majority
of scientists specializing in the climate support this correlation, and
only a very small percentage of them seek to deny the evidence.
Regrettably, the climate crisis is not exactly a matter that interests
the great economic powers, whose concern is with the greatest profit
possible at minimal cost and in the shortest amount of time.
14. I
feel obliged to make these clarifications, which may appear obvious,
because of certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I
encounter, even within the Catholic Church. Yet we can no longer doubt
that the reason for the unusual rapidity of these dangerous changes is a
fact that cannot be concealed: the enormous novelties that have to do
with unchecked human intervention on nature in the past two centuries.
Events of natural origin that usually cause warming, such as volcanic
eruptions and others, are insufficient to explain the proportion and
speed of the changes of recent decades. [11] The change in average
surface temperatures cannot be explained except as the result of the
increase of greenhouse gases.
Damages and risks
15. Some
effects of the climate crisis are already irreversible, at least for
several hundred years, such as the increase in the global temperature of
the oceans, their acidification and the decrease of oxygen. Ocean
waters have a thermal inertia and centuries are needed to normalize
their temperature and salinity, which affects the survival of many
species. This is one of the many signs that the other creatures of this
world have stopped being our companions along the way and have become
instead our victims.
16. The same can be said about the decrease
in the continental ice sheets. The melting of the poles will not be able
to be reversed for hundreds of years. As for the climate, there are
factors that have persisted for long periods of time, independent of the
events that may have triggered them. For this reason, we are now unable
to halt the enormous damage we have caused. We barely have time to
prevent even more tragic damage.
17. Certain apocalyptic
diagnoses may well appear scarcely reasonable or insufficiently
grounded. This should not lead us to ignore the real possibility that we
are approaching a critical point. Small changes can cause greater ones,
unforeseen and perhaps already irreversible, due to factors of inertia.
This would end up precipitating a cascade of events having a snowball
effect. In such cases, it is always too late, since no intervention will
be able to halt a process once begun. There is no turning back. We
cannot state with certainty that all this is going to happen, based on
present conditions. But it is certain that it continues to be a
possibility, if we take into account phenomena already in motion that
“sensitize” the climate, like the reduction of ice sheets, changes in
ocean currents, deforestation in tropical rainforests and the melting of
permafrost in Russia, etc. [12]
18. Consequently, a broader
perspective is urgently needed, one that can enable us to esteem the
marvels of progress, but also to pay serious attention to other effects
that were probably unimaginable a century ago. What is being asked of us
is nothing other than a certain responsibility for the legacy we will
leave behind, once we pass from this world.
19. Finally, we can
add that the Covid-19 pandemic brought out the close relation of human
life with that of other living beings and with the natural environment.
But in a special way, it confirmed that what happens in one part of the
world has repercussions on the entire planet. This allows me to
reiterate two convictions that I repeat over and over again: “Everything
is connected” and “No one is saved alone”.
2. A Growing Technocratic Paradigm
20.
In Laudato Si’, I offered a brief resumé of the technocratic paradigm
underlying the current process of environmental decay. It is “a certain
way of understanding human life and activity [that] has gone awry, to
the serious detriment of the world around us”. [13] Deep down, it
consists in thinking “as if reality, goodness and truth automatically
flow from technological and economic power as such”. [14] As a logical
consequence, it then becomes easy “to accept the idea of infinite or
unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers
and experts in technology”. [15]
21. In recent years, we have
been able to confirm this diagnosis, even as we have witnessed a new
advance of the above paradigm. Artificial intelligence and the latest
technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no
limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded
thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously
feeds upon itself.
22. Without a doubt, the natural resources
required by technology, such as lithium, silicon and so many others, are
not unlimited, yet the greater problem is the ideology underlying an
obsession: to increase human power beyond anything imaginable, before
which nonhuman reality is a mere resource at its disposal. Everything
that exists ceases to be a gift for which we should be thankful, esteem
and cherish, and instead becomes a slave, prey to any whim of the human
mind and its capacities.
23. It is chilling to realize that the
capacities expanded by technology “have given those with the knowledge
and especially the economic resources to use them, an impressive
dominance over the whole of humanity and the entire world. Never has
humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be
used wisely, particularly when we consider how it is currently being
used… In whose hands does all this power lie, or will it eventually end
up? It is extremely risky for a small part of humanity to have it”. [16]
Rethinking our use of power
24.
Not every increase in power represents progress for humanity. We need
only think of the “admirable” technologies that were employed to
decimate populations, drop atomic bombs and annihilate ethnic groups.
There were historical moments where our admiration at progress blinded
us to the horror of its consequences. But that risk is always present,
because “our immense technological development has not been accompanied
by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience... We
stand naked and exposed in the face of our ever-increasing power,
lacking the wherewithal to control it. We have certain superficial
mechanisms, but we cannot claim to have a sound ethics, a culture and
spirituality genuinely capable of setting limits and teaching
clear-minded self-restraint”. [17] It is not strange that so great a
power in such hands is capable of destroying life, while the mentality
proper to the technocratic paradigm blinds us and does not permit us to
see this extremely grave problem of present-day humanity.
25.
Contrary to this technocratic paradigm, we say that the world that
surrounds us is not an object of exploitation, unbridled use and
unlimited ambition. Nor can we claim that nature is a mere “setting” in
which we develop our lives and our projects. For “we are part of nature,
included in it and thus in constant interaction with it”, [18] and thus
“we [do] not look at the world from without but from within”. [19]
26.
This itself excludes the idea that the human being is extraneous, a
foreign element capable only of harming the environment. Human beings
must be recognized as a part of nature. Human life, intelligence and
freedom are elements of the nature that enriches our planet, part of its
internal workings and its equilibrium.
27. For this reason, a
healthy ecology is also the result of interaction between human beings
and the environment, as occurs in the indigenous cultures and has
occurred for centuries in different regions of the earth. Human
groupings have often “created” an environment, [20] reshaping it in some
way without destroying it or endangering it. The great present-day
problem is that the technocratic paradigm has destroyed that healthy and
harmonious relationship. In any event, the indispensable need to move
beyond that paradigm, so damaging and destructive, will not be found in a
denial of the human being, but include the interaction of natural
systems “with social systems”. [21]
28. We need to rethink among
other things the question of human power, its meaning and its limits.
For our power has frenetically increased in a few decades. We have made
impressive and awesome technological advances, and we have not realized
that at the same time we have turned into highly dangerous beings,
capable of threatening the lives of many beings and our own survival.
Today it is worth repeating the ironic comment of Solovyov about an “age
which was so advanced as to be actually the last one”. [22] We need
lucidity and honesty in order to recognize in time that our power and
the progress we are producing are turning against us. [23]
The ethical goad
29.
The ethical decadence of real power is disguised thanks to marketing
and false information, useful tools in the hands of those with greater
resources to employ them to shape public opinion. With the help of these
means, whenever plans are made to undertake a project involving
significant changes in the environment or high levels of contamination,
one raises the hopes of the people of that area by speaking of the local
progress that it will be able to generate or of the potential for
economic growth, employment and human promotion that it would mean for
their children. Yet in reality there does not seem to be any true
interest in the future of these people, since they are not clearly told
that the project will result in the clearing of their lands, a decline
in the quality of their lives, a desolate and less habitable landscape
lacking in life, the joy of community and hope for the future; in
addition to the global damage that eventually compromises many other
people as well.
30. One need but think of the momentary
excitement raised by the money received in exchange for the deposit of
nuclear waste in a certain place. The house that one could have bought
with that money has turned into a grave due to the diseases that were
then unleashed. And I am not saying this, moved by a overflowing
imagination, but on the basis of something we have seen. It could be
said that this is an extreme example, but in these cases there is no
room for speaking of “lesser” damages, for it is precisely the amassing
of damages considered tolerable that has brought us to the situation in
which we now find ourselves.
31. This situation has to do not
only with physics or biology, but also with the economy and the way we
conceive it. The mentality of maximum gain at minimal cost, disguised in
terms of reasonableness, progress and illusory promises, makes
impossible any sincere concern for our common home and any real
preoccupation about assisting the poor and the needy discarded by our
society. In recent years, we can note that, astounded and excited by the
promises of any number of false prophets, the poor themselves at times
fall prey to the illusion of a world that is not being built for them.
32.
Mistaken notions also develop about the concept of “meritocracy”, which
becomes seen as a “merited” human power to which everything must be
submitted, under the rule of those born with greater possibilities and
advantages. A healthy approach to the value of hard work, the
development of one’s native abilities and a praiseworthy spirit of
initiative is one thing, but if one does not seek a genuine equality of
opportunity, “meritocracy” can easily become a screen that further
consolidates the privileges of a few with great power. In this perverse
logic, why should they care about the damage done to our common home, if
they feel securely shielded by the financial resources that they have
earned by their abilities and effort?
33. In conscience, and with
an eye to the children who will pay for the harm done by their actions,
the question of meaning inevitably arises: “What is the meaning of my
life? What is the meaning of my time on this earth? And what is the
ultimate meaning of all my work and effort?”
3. The Weakness of International Politics
34.
Although “our own days seem to be showing signs of a certain
regression… each new generation must take up the struggles and
attainments of past generations, while setting its sights even higher.
This is the path. Goodness, together with love, justice and solidarity,
are not achieved once and for all; they have to be realized each day”.
[24] For there to be solid and lasting advances, I would insist that,
“preference should be given to multilateral agreements between States”.
[25]
35. It is not helpful to confuse multilateralism with a
world authority concentrated in one person or in an elite with excessive
power: “When we talk about the possibility of some form of world
authority regulated by law, we need not necessarily think of a personal
authority”. [26] We are speaking above all of “more effective world
organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common
good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defence of
fundamental human rights”. [27] The issue is that they must be endowed
with real authority, in such a way as to “provide for” the attainment of
certain essential goals. In this way, there could come about a
multilateralism that is not dependent on changing political conditions
or the interests of a certain few, and possesses a stable efficacy.
36.
It continues to be regrettable that global crises are being squandered
when they could be the occasions to bring about beneficial changes. [28]
This is what happened in the 2007-2008 financial crisis and again in
the Covid-19 crisis. For “the actual strategies developed worldwide in
the wake of [those crises] fostered greater individualism, less
integration and increased freedom for the truly powerful, who always
find a way to escape unscathed”. [29]
Reconfiguring multilateralism
37.
More than saving the old multilateralism, it appears that the current
challenge is to reconfigure and recreate it, taking into account the new
world situation. I invite you to recognize that “many groups and
organizations within civil society help to compensate for the
shortcomings of the international community, its lack of coordination in
complex situations, and its lack of attention to fundamental human
rights”. [30] For example, the Ottawa Process against the use,
production and manufacture of antipersonnel mines is one example that
shows how civil society with its organizations is capable of creating
effective dynamics that the United Nations cannot. In this way, the
principle of subsidiarity is applied also to the global-local
relationship.
38. In the medium-term, globalization favours
spontaneous cultural interchanges, greater mutual knowledge and
processes of integration of peoples, which end up provoking a
multilateralism “from below” and not simply one determined by the elites
of power. The demands that rise up from below throughout the world,
where activists from very different countries help and support one
another, can end up pressuring the sources of power. It is to be hoped
that this will happen with respect to the climate crisis. For this
reason, I reiterate that “unless citizens control political power –
national, regional and municipal – it will not be possible to control
damage to the environment”. [31]
39. Postmodern culture has
generated a new sensitivity towards the more vulnerable and less
powerful. This is connected with my insistence in the Encyclical Letter
Fratelli Tutti on the primacy of the human person and the defence of his
or her dignity beyond every circumstance. It is another way of
encouraging multilateralism for the sake of resolving the real problems
of humanity, securing before all else respect for the dignity of
persons, in such a way that ethics will prevail over local or contingent
interests.
40. It is not a matter of replacing politics, but of
recognizing that the emerging forces are becoming increasingly relevant
and are in fact capable of obtaining important results in the resolution
of concrete problems, as some of them demonstrated during the pandemic.
The very fact that answers to problems can come from any country,
however little, ends up presenting multilateralism as an inevitable
process.
41. The old diplomacy, also in crisis, continues to show
its importance and necessity. Still, it has not succeeded in generating
a model of multilateral diplomacy capable of responding to the new
configuration of the world; yet should it be able to reconfigure itself,
it must be part of the solution, because the experience of centuries
cannot be cast aside either.
42. Our world has become so
multipolar and at the same time so complex that a different framework
for effective cooperation is required. It is not enough to think only of
balances of power but also of the need to provide a response to new
problems and to react with global mechanisms to the environmental,
public health, cultural and social challenges, especially in order to
consolidate respect for the most elementary human rights, social rights
and the protection of our common home. It is a matter of establishing
global and effective rules that can permit “providing for” this global
safeguarding.
43. All this presupposes the development of a new
procedure for decision-making and legitimizing those decisions, since
the one put in place several decades ago is not sufficient nor does it
appear effective. In this framework, there would necessarily be required
spaces for conversation, consultation, arbitration, conflict resolution
and supervision, and, in the end, a sort of increased “democratization”
in the global context, so that the various situations can be expressed
and included. It is no longer helpful for us to support institutions in
order to preserve the rights of the more powerful without caring for
those of all.
4. Climate Conferences: Progress and Failures
44.
For several decades now, representatives of more than 190 countries
have met periodically to address the issue of climate change. The 1992
Rio de Janeiro Conference led to the adoption of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a treaty that took
effect when the necessary ratification on the part of the signatories
concluded in 1994. These States meet annually in the Conference of the
Parties (COP), the highest decision-making body. Some of these
Conferences were failures, like that of Copenhagen (2009), while others
made it possible to take important steps forward, like COP3 in Kyoto
(1997). Its significant Protocol set the goal of reducing overall
greenhouse gas emissions by 5% with respect to 1990. The deadline was
the year 2012, but this, clearly, was not achieved.
45. All
parties also committed themselves to implementing programmes of
adaptation in order to reduce the effects of climate change now taking
place. Provisions were also made for aid to cover the costs of the
measures in developing countries. The Protocol actually took effect in
2005.
46. Afterwards, it was proposed to create a mechanism
regarding the loss and damage caused by climate change, which recognizes
as those chiefly responsible the richer countries and seeks to
compensate for the loss and damage that climate change produces in the
more vulnerable countries. It was not yet a matter of financing the
“adaptation” of those countries, but of compensating them for damage
already incurred. This question was the subject of important discussions
at various Conferences.
47. COP21 in Paris (2015) represented
another significant moment, since it generated an agreement that
involved everyone. It can be considered as a new beginning, given the
failure to meet the goals previously set. The agreement took effect on 4
November 2016. Albeit a binding agreement, not all its dispositions are
obligations in the strict sense, and some of them leave ample room for
discretion. In any case, properly speaking, there are no provisions for
sanctions in the case of unfulfilled commitments, nor effective
instruments to ensure their fulfilment. It also provides for a certain
flexibility in the case of developing countries.
48. The Paris
Agreement presents a broad and ambitious objective: to keep the increase
of average global temperatures to under 2° C with respect to
preindustrial levels, and with the aim of decreasing them to 1.5° C.
Work is still under way to consolidate concrete procedures for
monitoring and to facilitate general criteria for comparing the
objectives of the different countries. This makes it difficult to
achieve a more objective (quantitative) evaluation of the real results.
49.
Following several Conferences with scarce results, and the
disappointment of COP25 in Madrid (2019), it was hoped that this inertia
would be reversed at COP26 in Glasgow (2021). In effect, its result was
to relaunch the Paris Agreement, put on hold by the overall effects of
the pandemic. Furthermore, there was an abundance of “recommendations”
whose actual effect was hardly foreseeable. Proposals tending to ensure a
rapid and effective transition to alternative and less polluting forms
of energy made no progress.
50. COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh (2022)
was from the outset threatened by the situation created by the invasion
of Ukraine, which caused a significant economic and energy crisis.
Carbon use increased and everyone sought to have sufficient supplies.
Developing countries regarded access to energy and prospects for
development as an urgent priority. There was an evident openness to
recognizing the fact that combustible fuels still provide 80% of the
world’s energy, and that their use continues to increase.
51.
This Conference in Egypt was one more example of the difficulty of
negotiations. It could be said that at least it marked a step forward in
consolidating a system for financing “loss and damage” in countries
most affected by climate disasters. This would seem to give a new voice
and a greater role to developing countries. Yet here too, many points
remained imprecise, above all the concrete responsibility of the
countries that have to contribute.
52. Today we can continue to
state that, “the accords have been poorly implemented, due to lack of
suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in
cases of noncompliance. The principles which they proclaimed still await
an efficient and flexible means of practical implementation”. [32]
Also, that “international negotiations cannot make significant progress
due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests
above the global common good. Those who will have to suffer the
consequences of what we are trying to hide will not forget this failure
of conscience and responsibility”. [33]
5. What to Expect from COP28 in Dubai?
53.
The United Arab Emirates will host the next Conference of the Parties
(COP28). It is a country of the Persian Gulf known as a great exporter
of fossil fuels, although it has made significant investments in
renewable energy sources. Meanwhile, gas and oil companies are planning
new projects there, with the aim of further increasing their production.
To say that there is nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it
would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst
impacts of climate change.
54. If we are confident in the
capacity of human beings to transcend their petty interests and to think
in bigger terms, we can keep hoping that COP28 will allow for a
decisive acceleration of energy transition, with effective commitments
subject to ongoing monitoring. This Conference can represent a change of
direction, showing that everything done since 1992 was in fact serious
and worth the effort, or else it will be a great disappointment and
jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far.
55. Despite
the many negotiations and agreements, global emissions continue to
increase. Certainly, it could be said that, without those agreements,
they would have increased even more. Still, in other themes related to
the environment, when there was a will, very significant results were
obtained, as was the case with the protection of the ozone layer. Yet,
the necessary transition towards clean energy sources such as wind and
solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil fuels, is not progressing at
the necessary speed. Consequently, whatever is being done risks being
seen only as a ploy to distract attention.
56. We must move
beyond the mentality of appearing to be concerned but not having the
courage needed to produce substantial changes. We know that at this pace
in just a few years we will surpass the maximum recommended limit of
1.5° C and shortly thereafter even reach 3° C, with a high risk of
arriving at a critical point. Even if we do not reach this point of no
return, it is certain that the consequences would be disastrous and
precipitous measures would have to be taken, at enormous cost and with
grave and intolerable economic and social effects. Although the measures
that we can take now are costly, the cost will be all the more
burdensome the longer we wait.
57. I consider it essential to
insist that “to seek only a technical remedy to each environmental
problem which comes up is to separate what is in reality interconnected
and to mask the true and deepest problems of the global system”. [34] It
is true that efforts at adaptation are needed in the face of evils that
are irreversible in the short term. Also some interventions and
technological advances that make it possible to absorb or capture gas
emissions have proved promising. Nonetheless, we risk remaining trapped
in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks, while beneath the
surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we continue to
contribute. To suppose that all problems in the future will be able to
be solved by new technical interventions is a form of homicidal
pragmatism, like pushing a snowball down a hill.
58. Once and for
all, let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present
this issue as something purely ecological, “green”, romantic,
frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests. Let us finally
admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels. For
this reason, it calls for involvement on the part of all. In
Conferences on the climate, the actions of groups negatively portrayed
as “radicalized” tend to attract attention. But in reality they are
filling a space left empty by society as a whole, which ought to
exercise a healthy “pressure”, since every family ought to realize that
the future of their children is at stake.
59. If there is sincere
interest in making COP28 a historic event that honours and ennobles us
as human beings, then one can only hope for binding forms of energy
transition that meet three conditions: that they be efficient,
obligatory and readily monitored. This, in order to achieve the
beginning of a new process marked by three requirements: that it be
drastic, intense and count on the commitment of all. That is not what
has happened so far, and only a process of this sort can enable
international politics to recover its credibility, since only in this
concrete manner will it be possible to reduce significantly carbon
dioxide levels and to prevent even greater evils over time.
60.
May those taking part in the Conference be strategists capable of
considering the common good and the future of their children, more than
the short-term interests of certain countries or businesses. In this
way, may they demonstrate the nobility of politics and not its shame. To
the powerful, I can only repeat this question: “What would induce
anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for
their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do
so?” [35]
6. Spiritual Motivations
61. I cannot fail in
this regard to remind the Catholic faithful of the motivations born of
their faith. I encourage my brothers and sisters of other religions to
do the same, since we know that authentic faith not only gives strength
to the human heart, but also transforms life, transfigures our goals and
sheds light on our relationship to others and with creation as a whole.
In the light of faith
62.
The Bible tells us: “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed,
it was very good” ( Gen 1:31). His is “the earth with all that is in it”
( Deut 10:14). For this reason, he tells us that, “the land shall not
be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens
and tenants” ( Lev 25:23). Hence, “responsibility for God’s earth means
that human beings, endowed with intelligence, must respect the laws of
nature and the delicate equilibria existing between the creatures of
this world”. [36]
63. At the same time, “the universe as a whole,
in all its manifold relationships, shows forth the inexhaustible
richness of God”. Hence, to be wise, “we need to grasp the variety of
things in their multiple relationships”. [37] Along this path of wisdom,
it is not a matter of indifference to us that so many species are
disappearing and that the climate crisis endangers the life of many
other beings.
64. Jesus “was able to invite others to be
attentive to the beauty that there is in the world because he himself
was in constant touch with nature, lending it an attraction full of
fondness and wonder. As he made his way throughout the land, he often
stopped to contemplate the beauty sown by his Father, and invited his
disciples to perceive a divine message in things”. [38]
65.
Hence, “the creatures of this world no longer appear to us under merely
natural guise, because the risen One is mysteriously holding them to
himself and directing them towards fullness as their end. The very
flowers of the field and the birds which his human eyes contemplated and
admired are now imbued with his radiant presence”. [39] If “the
universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely… there is a mystical
meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a
poor person’s face”. [40] The world sings of an infinite Love: how can
we fail to care for it?
Journeying in communion and commitment
66.
God has united us to all his creatures. Nonetheless, the technocratic
paradigm can isolate us from the world that surrounds us and deceive us
by making us forget that the entire world is a “contact zone”. [41]
67.
The Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos defends the unique and
central value of the human being amid the marvellous concert of all
God’s creatures, but today we see ourselves forced to realize that it is
only possible to sustain a “situated anthropocentrism”. To recognize,
in other words, that human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable
without other creatures. For “as part of the universe… all of us are
linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a
sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble
respect”. [42]
68. This is not a product of our own will; its
origin lies elsewhere, in the depths of our being, since “God has joined
us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the
desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the
extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement”. [43] Let us stop
thinking, then, of human beings as autonomous, omnipotent and limitless,
and begin to think of ourselves differently, in a humbler but more
fruitful way.
69. I ask everyone to accompany this pilgrimage of
reconciliation with the world that is our home and to help make it more
beautiful, because that commitment has to do with our personal dignity
and highest values. At the same time, I cannot deny that it is necessary
to be honest and recognize that the most effective solutions will not
come from individual efforts alone, but above all from major political
decisions on the national and international level.
70.
Nonetheless, every little bit helps, and avoiding an increase of a tenth
of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to
alleviate some suffering for many people. Yet what is important is
something less quantitative: the need to realize that there are no
lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of
lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural
changes without personal changes.
71. Efforts by households to
reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with prudence, are creating a
new culture. The mere fact that personal, family and community habits
are changing is contributing to greater concern about the unfulfilled
responsibilities of the political sectors and indignation at the lack of
interest shown by the powerful. Let us realize, then, that even though
this does not immediately produce a notable effect from the quantitative
standpoint, we are helping to bring about large processes of
transformation rising from deep within society.
72. If we
consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about
two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about
seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, [44] we
can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected
with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact. As a
result, along with indispensable political decisions, we would be making
progress along the way to genuine care for one another.
73.
“Praise God” is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to
take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies.
Given in
Rome, at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, on 4 October, the Feast of
Saint Francis of Assisi, in the year 2023, the eleventh of my
Pontificate.
FRANCIS
[1] UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS, Global Climate Change Background, 2019.
[2] SPECIAL ASSEMBLY FOR THE PAN-AMAZONIAN REGION, Final Document, October 2019, 10: AAS 111 (2019), 1744.
[3]
SYMPOSIUM OF EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES OF AFRICA AND MADAGASCAR (SECAM),
African Climate Dialogues Communiqué, Nairobi, 17 October 2022.
[4]
Cf. INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC), Climate Change
2021, The Physical Science Basis, Cambridge and New York, 2021, B.2.2.
[5]
Cf. ID., Climate Change 2023, Synthesis Report, Summary for
Policymakers, B.3.2. For the 2023 Report, see
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf.
[6]
Cf. UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM, The Emissions Gap Report 2022:
https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022.
[7] Cf.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research
Laboratories, Global Monitoring Laboratory, Trends in Atmospheric
Carbon Dioxide: https://www.gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/.
[8] Cf. IPCC, Climate Change 2023, Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers, A.1.3.
[9] Cf. ibid., B.5.3.
[10]
These are data of the IPCC, based on 34,000 studies: INTERGOVERNMENTAL
PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC); cf. Synthesis Report of the Sixth
Assessment Report (20/03/2023): AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change
2023 (ipcc.ch).
[11] Cf. IPCC, Climate Change 2023, Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers, A.1.2.
[12] Cf. ibid.
[13] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015), 101: AAS 107 (2015), 887.
[14] Ibid., 105: AAS 107 (2015), 889.
[15] Ibid. 106: AAS 107 (2015), 890.
[16] Ibid., 104: AAS 107 (2015), 888-889.
[17] Ibid., 105: AAS 107 (2015), 889.
[18] Ibid., 139: AAS 107 (2015), 903.
[19] Ibid., 220: AAS 107 (2015), 934.
[20]
Cf. S. SÖRLIN-P. WARDE, “Making the Environment Historical. An
Introduction”, in S. SÖRLIN-P. WARDE, eds., Nature’s End: History and
the Environment, Basingstroke-New York, 2009, 1-23.
[21] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015), 139: AAS 107 (2015), 903.
[22]
Cf. War, Progress and the End of History, Including a Short Story of
the Anti-Christ. Three Discussions by Vladimir Soloviev, London, 1915,
p. 197.
[23] Cf. SAINT PAUL VI, Address to FAO on its 25th Anniversary (16 November 1970), 4: AAS 62 (1970), 833.
[24] Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti (3 October 2020), 11: AAS 112 (2020), 972.
[25] Ibid., 174: AAS 112 (2020), 1030.
[26] Ibid., 172: AAS 112 (2020), 1029.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Cf. ibid., 170: AAS 112 (2020), 1029.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid., 175: AAS 112 (2020), 1031.
[31] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015), 179: AAS 107 (2015), 918.
[32] Ibid., 167: AAS 107 (2015), 914.
[33] Ibid., 169: AAS 107 (2015), 915.
[34] Ibid., 111: AAS 107 (2015), 982.
[35] Ibid., 57: AAS 107 (2015), 870.
[36] Ibid., 68: AAS 107 (2015), 874.
[37] Ibid., 86: AAS 107 (2015), 881.
[38] Ibid., 97: AAS 107 (2015), 886.
[39] Ibid., 100: AAS 197 (2015), 887.
[40] Ibid., 233: AAS 107 (2015), 938.
[41] Cf. D. J. HARAWAY, When Species Meet, Minneapolis, 2008, pp. 205-249.
[42] Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ (24 May 2015), 89: AAS 107 (2015), 883.
[43] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 215: AAS 105 (2013), 1109.
[44]
Cf. UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM, The Emissions Gap Report 2022:
https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022.
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