Source: aol.com
NEW YORK (AP) — Pope Francis declared Friday that there is a "right of the environment" and that mankind has no authority to abuse it, telling more than 100 world leaders and diplomats at the United Nations that urgent action is needed to halt the destruction of God’s creation.
Hoping to spur concrete commitments at upcoming climate change negotiations in Paris, Francis accused the world’s powerful countries of indulging a "selfish and boundless thirst" for money by ravaging the planet’s natural resources and impoverishing the weak and disadvantaged in the process.
He asserted that the poor have inherent rights to education and what he has termed the "three L’s" — lodging, labor and land.
Francis’ speech, the fifth by a pope to the U.N., was a distillation of his recent teaching document on the environment, "Praise Be," which has delighted liberals and environmentalists and drawn scorn from big business interests.
By bringing the document to life before the U.N., Francis made clear his priorities.
"Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity," he said.
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Speaking in the packed General Assembly hall, Francis stated that "a right of the environment" exists.
He said the universe is the result of a "loving decision by the creator, who permits man respectfully to use creation for the good of his fellow men and for the glory of the creator: He is not authorized to abuse it, much less destroy it."
Echoing his encyclical’s key message, he said a "selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged."
He called for immediate access for the world’s poor to adequate food, water and housing, as well as religious freedom.
He drew applause when he called for a reform of the U.N. system and international financial agencies to give poor countries a greater say.
That, he said, would ensure that they aren’t subjected to "oppressive lending systems, which, far from promoting progress, subject people to mechanisms which generate greater poverty, exclusion and dependence."
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On Thursday, in Washington, the pope waded into bitter disputes while speaking to Congress, entreating the nation to share its immense wealth with those less fortunate. He also urged the nation to abolish the death penalty, fight global warming and embrace immigrants.
Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela, Edith Lederer, Cara Anna, William Mathis, Jackie Snow and Rachel Zoll in New York contributed to this report. |
