Since his inaugural Mass in March 2013, Pope Francis has frequently reminded a global audience that care for creation is among his highest priorities. As a world leader with a background in science who heads a two-thousand-year-old Church, the pope is uniquely qualified to articulate a compelling vision and mission for the future. This book gathers the pope’s most important and inspiring words about our shared responsibility to protect, nurture, and care for “our common home.”
The planet is in peril, the pope is telling us, along with the well-being of the poor who depend on the earth’s natural resources. He chastises world leaders and challenges ordinary people, reminding us that our foolish actions and careless decisions are placing lives at risk. He decries our current assaults on the natural environment and warns of the consequences of climate change. Still, his message is always ultimately one of hope.
In Caring for Creation, Pope Francis’s words reveal that he believes we can move toward a new kind of conversion—a higher level of consciousness, action, and advocacy that will spark “a bold cultural revolution.”
Protect This Fragile World
"Small yet strong in the love of God, like St. Francis of Assisi, all of us, as Christians, are called to watch over and protect the fragile world in which we live, and all its people." -Pope Francis
Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, 216
Sunday, November 24, 2013
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About the Author
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, is the 266th and current pope of the Catholic Church, having been elected Bishop of Rome and absolute Sovereign of Vatican City.
Alicia von Stamwitz is an award-winning freelance author and longtime editor. Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, St. Anthony Messenger, and other media. She is also the compiler of The Blessing of Family: Inspiring Words of Pope Francis.
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Commentary
Caring for Creation is a bold collection of powerful words by Pope Francis that leads to contemplation of humanity's purpose in protecting our world's ecology.
Pope Francis reminds us that nations and people have a calling to preserve our world from environmental ruin.
In the eye of God, Our Creator, there is no excuse to ignore preservation of lakes, rivers, oceans, land and the air we breathe. The consequence of mismanagement affects all the inhabitants of our world.
The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. Psalm 24:1-2, (NRSVCE)
As caretakers of planet earth, Our Heavenly Father entrusts us to preserve this world for future generations and to honor all His creation.
-Loci B. Lenar
