Pope: "Courage and Sacrifice Necessary for Climate Change Pact"
(17 Dec 09 - RV) On Thursday Pope Benedict XVI received a group of ambassadors from
Africa, Asia and Northern Europe who presented the Holy Father with their letters
of credence...
The new ambassadors
to the Holy See come from Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh, Denmark,
Finland and Latvia.
Pope Benedict XVI gave each of them a personal message
for their nation and then addressed them as a group in French. For the second time
this week, following on from his message for the World Day for Peace published Tuesday,
the Holy Father revealed his overriding concern for the protection of the environment.
Pope
Benedict again repeated the need to restore a proper relationship between man and
creation and for a conversion to a human ecology. He said “environmental responsibility
can not be separated from” the need to end the “scandal of poverty and hunger”, because
the continued degradation of the environment is a direct threat to human survival”,
and as a consequence to peace.
He continued that “more determined commitments
must be made both individually and politically”, above all through “binding international
agreements that are effective and fair to all”.
The Popes comments come as
over 300 world leaders descend on the Danish city of Copenhagen for the final stages
of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in an attempt to reach consensus
on a binding agreement for emissions targets.
In his message to the new ambassador
from Denmark, Pope Benedict said: “while some consensus can undoubtedly be reached”
through the elaboration of shared aspirations, policies and targets, “fundamental
change – individual or collective – requires conversion of heart”.
For this
reason we need “courage and sacrifice, fruits of an ethical awakening, enable us to
envisage a better world”, because when the “moral tenor of society” declines the “challenges
facing today’s leaders can only increase”.
Bangladesh is one of the nations
worst hit by climate change and wrought by poverty that undermines social stability.
In his address to Bangladesh’s new ambassador, Pope Benedict praised the initiatives
taken by the government to alleviate poverty through micro-financing small businesses
and greater access to education, a field that the nation’s tiny Catholic minority
are active in. But he also noted the scourge of intimidation and violence, present
in Bangladeshi society which he writes “erode the very basis of social harmony and
must be decried as offensive to human life and freedom”. In his general discourse
Pope Benedict reflected on the role religions play in promoting, society, the environment
and peace.
Pope Benedict said it is true that in history, religions have often
been a source of conflict. But it is also true that religion lived by its very essence
was and is a force for reconciliation and peace, because for “people of faith” and
“good will, the resolution of human conflict”, such as the delicate coexistence of
different religions “may be transformed into a human coexistence” which has its “origin
and dynamism in God”. This coexistence in respect of the nature of things is called
peace. Peace was at the heart of the Pope’s message to Sudan. In it he writes
that : “the Holy See was profoundly gratified at the signing of the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement four years ago which ended a tragic period of immense suffering, loss
of life and destruction. The expectations generated by this agreement, contracted
by important parties within the country and with the support of the international
community, must be kept alive”.
In this context, continued the Pope “it must
be noted that the people of Darfur continue to suffer greatly. Negotiated agreements
between armed groups have been slow and faltering and are in urgent need of support
from all sides. Respect for civilian populations and their basic human rights, and
responsibilities in relation to national and regional stability clearly require renewed
attempts to seek lasting agreements”.
Pope Benedict’s parting words to the
ambassadors from the 8 nations was that its time for a global restructuring, both
temporal and spiritual, which will allow a “fresh start toward the universal peace
that God wants”.