The Pope criticized the West for irresponsibility: “The world is approaching a critical point”

Pope Francis warned that “the world we live in is collapsing and may be approaching a critical point.” In his speech, he repeatedly called for solutions to the climate crisis and pointed out that the United States is irresponsible and Western rulers are weak in moments of action.

On Wednesday, October 4, Pope Francis said the rich Western world must make changes in its behavior to cope with the climate crisis. The head of the Roman Catholic Church also defended climate change protesters in a speech and called on governments to take bold steps at the upcoming Cop28 climate summit in Dubai. The pontiff’s words were included in the papal address published by the Vatican, The Guardian reports.

The pope encouraged a “decisive acceleration of the energy transition” from fossil fuels to renewables, but warned against using new technologies, which he said would be “like rolling a snowball down a hill.”

Senior Vatican official Cardinal Michael Czerny notes that this is a call primarily to Catholics, but intended for the whole world. He also called for the focus of all governments on the document: “For the powerful, Pope Francis dares to repeat this question: “Why do you want to maintain today a power that will be remembered as a failure to intervene when it was urgent and necessary?”

The Laudate Deum, which translates to “Praise God,” is the first major intervention to combat the climate crisis in eight years. At just 12 pages, the document is considered short compared to its 180-page predecessor.

Let us recall that the previous papal encyclical “Laudato Si’” was published in 2015, shortly before the landmark Cop21 climate summit, at which the Paris Agreement was signed. In a political moment, in 2017, the Pope gave a copy of his encyclical to President Donald Trump.

“Some of the consequences of the climate crisis are already irreversible, at least for several hundred years, such as rising global ocean temperatures, acidification and depletion of oxygen,” the Pope wrote. Without decisive action, the world will face a “point of no return,” the pontiff believes.

He called for a “widespread change in the irresponsible lifestyle associated with the Western model” but noted that he faced opposition to his views: “I have been forced to make these clarifications, which may seem obvious, due to some dismissive and hardly reasonable opinions, which I encounter even within the Catholic Church.”

Pope Francis, while criticizing the United States, also praised American bishops for aptly expressing that “our concerns for each other and for the earth are closely related to each other.” It is worth saying that this quote from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was simply a paraphrase of the Pope’s line from “Laudato Si’.”

The Washington Post notes that the document is largely similar to the political one, with the exception of the religious references section at the end. According to Western media, the Green Pope has denounced the scale of emissions from high-consumption crops and claims that the “poor of the world” are paying for it: “When you consider that emissions per person in the United States are about twice that of people, living in China, and about seven times more than the average for the poorest country, we can say that the widespread change in irresponsible lifestyles associated with the Western model will have a significant long-term impact.” The Pope is asking the West to stop making political decisions that hinder aggressive action on climate change.

In his new document, Francis noted how little world leaders have achieved, blamed the lack of mechanisms for countries to fulfill their obligations, and noted that “international negotiations have been unable to make significant progress because of the positions taken by countries that put their national interests above global interests.” common good. Those who have to suffer the consequences of what we try to hide will not forget this failure of conscience and responsibility.”

The pontiff said he hoped the Cop28 summit, to be held in Dubai in November and December this year, would “go beyond the mentality of appearing worried but lacking the courage needed to make significant changes.” He also pointed to the key role of the Cop28 hosts, noting that the United Arab Emirates is a major oil producer: “We can continue to hope that Cop28 will decisively accelerate the energy transition. This conference could mark a change in direction, showing that everything that has been done since 1992 has in fact been serious and worth the effort, or it will be a major disappointment and jeopardize all the good that has been achieved so far.”

The pontiff has promised the Vatican’s net-zero emissions by 2050. The dwarf city-state recycles most of its trash, produces compost for its gardens and bans single-use plastics.

Some conservatives criticize the pope for his environmentalism, saying he is pushing faith beyond its religious boundaries. “It is safe to say that many Catholics still do not see caring for the environment as a central aspect of what it means to be Catholic. They understand this as an optional activity in which some Catholics may be involved. But Pope Francis is clearly trying to move the church in that direction,” said David Cloutier, a professor of moral theology at Catholic University.