Pope praises environment campaign, urging greater cooperation to fight ozone-depletion
(Sept 17, 2007) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday appealed for greater international cooperation
to fight ozone depletion. His appeal came on the International Day for the Preservation
of the Ozone Layer, which this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol
on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, signed on Sept. 16, 1987. Speaking during
the customary midday ‘Angelus’ prayer at the papal summer residence of Castelgandolfo,
on the outskirts of Rome, the Pope expressed satisfaction that in the past 20 years
following exemplary collaboration in the international community among politics, science
and economics, important results have been obtained with positive results for current
and future generations.” He hoped that this cooperation on the part of all intensifies
so that the common good, development and the safeguarding of creation is promoted,
strengthening the alliance between man and the environment.” The ozone layer of
the earth’s atmosphere keeps out ultraviolet radiation, which is dangerous to humans
and animals. Scientists say that the production of substances commonly called chlorofluorocarbons,
or CFCs, deplete the ozone thus increasing the risk of skin cancer and cataracts and
affect biodiversity. In another comment, Pope Benedict also recalled the 6th
anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, saying the “tragic” attacks on New York
and Washington had “darkened the dawn of the Third Millennium.” He quoted Pope John
Paul II, who in response to the attacks urged Christians and others to believe that
God's mercy was “stronger than every bad, and that only on the cross of Christ is
the world's salvation found.”