(Vatican Radio) Ways to combat climate change and its effects on society’s most vulnerable: some sixty mayors and local administrators from around the world are brainstorming on that topic in the Vatican Tuesday and Wednesday. Pope Francis is expected to greet them in an audience Tuesday evening.
In his recently released environment encyclical Laudato Si,’ the Pope said caring for the Earth is an urgent moral imperative and that fossil fuel-based global warming puts the poor most at risk. Urban centers are considered some of the biggest contributors to climate change.
Hailing from cities in North and South America, Europe and from developing nations like India and Gabon, many of the officials are committed to environmentally friendly policies aimed at bringing down the carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
The two day Vatican climate conference comes ahead of the Paris COP-21 climate negotiations in December. Click here to see the YouTube coverage of the events.
In presenting this week’s meeting, the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences said “global warming is one of the causes of poverty and forced migrations, and it favours human trafficking, forced labour, prostitution and organ trafficking.”
Mayors and Local Administrators at the Vatican summit are expected to urge global leaders to take bold action to curb global warming, and to press for approval of the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals this fall.
Speaking to participants Tuesday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his city’s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 40 percent over the next fifteen years. He described Pope Francis’ as “the most powerful voice on this earth for those whose voice is not being heard…he did not convene us here to accept the status quo but to indict it.”
Speaking of the fast-approaching Paris climate summit, de Blasio added, “we need to see it as the finish line of a sprint, and take every local action we can in the coming months to maximize the chance that our national governments will act boldly.”
Governor Jerry Brown, whose state of California has enacted some of the most stringent carbon emissions policies in the U.S., decried “powerful” opposition groups at home which deny global warming and “spend billions on trying to keep from office” people who believe scientific evidence proves the phenomenon exists.
(from Vatican Radio)…
New York, 16 July
2015 Mr. Chair, The Holy See is pleased to
participate in the 6th Session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing and
would like to applaud your leadership and thank you for your unwavering
commitment as the Chair of this Open-Ended Working Group since its first
session in 2011. I wish to assure you that my
delegation remains committed to the promotion and protection of the human
rights and inherent dignity of the elderly, and to the elimination of all forms
of discrimination based on age. This discussion is especially pertinent in a
time when the elderly are abandoned, not only in material instability, but are
also made to feel a burden to society. As Pope Francis affirmed, “it’s brutal
to see how the elderly are thrown away… No one dares to say it openly, but it’s
done!” (Pope Francis. “The Family, 6. The Elderly.” General Audience.
Saint Peter’s Square, Rome. March 4th, 2015). In the West, data tell us that
the current century is the aging century: children are diminishing, the elderly
are increasing. Currently 700 million people, or 10 per cent of the world’s
population, are above 60 years of age. By 2050, it is estimated that this
number will double, reaching 20 per cent of the global population (Report of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (E/2012/51), 2012 ). This
increasing imbalance is a great challenge for contemporary society. For
example, this puts increased pressure on healthcare and social protection
systems. Given these figures, my delegation would like to draw particular
attention to the needs of elderly women who are often excluded or neglected. Therefore, as the number of older
people increases along with the rise in average life expectancy, it will become
increasingly important to promote an attitude of acceptance and appreciation of
the elderly and to integrate them better in society. My delegation would like
to reiterate that the ideal is still for the elderly to remain within the
family, with the guarantee of effective social assistance for the greater needs
which age or illness entail. Mr. Chair, Reflecting on previous sessions,
it is evident that there are concerns about the serious gaps that exist in
protecting the rights of the elderly, and that there is no agreement yet on how
to address them. Some have spoken of establishing new mechanisms similar to the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; others have underlined
the need to make good on the commitments that States have already made on this
matter; still others think that the Madrid International Plan for Action on
Ageing already contains the measures we have to adopt to protect the rights of
the elderly. In order to guarantee that the
human rights system is effective and commitments are fulfilled, we must
recognize that an approach based only on respect for human rights will not be
sufficient unless it is complimented by policies and programs that address the
underlying causes of the violations it wishes to prevent. In this regard, it is crucial
that we promote policies and systems of education that propose an alternative
approach to the dominant “throw-away culture” that judges human beings simply
by what they produce. So often, the elderly feel useless and alone because they
have lost their proper place in society. Though it is important to
reaffirm the right of the elderly to work or to receive relevant skills
training, we must be careful that the policies we promote do not play into the
same tired narrative that reduces our value as human beings to what we produce,
while ignoring our inherent dignity and the countless other ways in which the
most vulnerable among us contribute to society’s greater good. The elderly are
a resource and essential point of reference in an age when many struggle to
find their identity and have lost hope. Their collective memory and wealth of
experience support and guide society, providing direction and especially hope
to future generations that must not face the struggles of life alone. This understanding of the value
of ageing and contribution of the elderly to our society is one of the most
important antidotes to the tendency to reduce the elderly to purely utilitarian
terms. This is the only way to work toward a world that freely and fully
respects the rights of its elders. Thank you, Mr. Chair….
(Vatican Radio) Jesus the Good Shepherd was the focus of Pope Francis’ Angelus address on Sunday in St Peter’s Square. In his first major public event since his return from Latin America, the Holy Father spoke about the Gospel of the day, which tells how Jesus took his Apostles “to a secluded place” to rest after their experience of mission.
The people, though, having discovered where Jesus was going, went there ahead of Him. It is at this point, the Pope said, the Evangelist gives us an intense view of Jesus, almost a photograph, which captures “the sentiments of His Heart”: Jesus, seeing the crowd, is “moved with pity” for them because “they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.”
Pope Francis said the three words “to see,” “to have compassion,” and “to teach” might be called “the words of the Shepherd.” Jesus does not look on people as a sociologist or a photographer would; rather, the Lord always sees people “with the eyes of the heart.” Likewise, Jesus’ compassion is not simply a human emotion, but is rather the compassion of “the Messiah in whom the tenderness of God is made flesh.” It is this compassion that leads Jesus “to nourish the crowd with the bread of His Word.”
The Holy Father said that he had prayed to the Lord that the Spirit of Jesus the Good Shepherd would guide him on his Apostolic Voyage to Latin America, which concluded last Sunday. After renewing his thanks to the civil authorities and the members of the Church in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay, Pope Francis spoke about the challenges facing the Church in Latin America. “The Latin American continent,” he said, “has great human and spiritual potential, it preserves deeply rooted Christian values, and yet also experiences grave social and economic problems.” In order to help address those problems, the Pope said the Church is committed to mobilizing the “spiritual and moral strength of her communities” in collaboration with the various components of society.
Concluding his Angelus address, Pope Francis entrusted the fruits of his “unforgettable” Apostolic Voyage to the Virgin Mary, who is venerated throughout Latin America under the title of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
A high-level event was organized at the United Nations in New York on June 29, to address the issue of climate change, in which several eminent personalities from around the world were invited to speak. Among them were United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Cardinal Peter Turkson, the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Cardinal made use of the gathering to highlight some of the issues in the recent environmental encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato Si”, on the Care of Our Common Home. We bring you a programme on what Ban and Cardinal Turkson said.
Listen:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Governatorate of the Vatican City State and Rome’s Bambino Gesù children’s hospital announced an accord on Friday to allow the hospital to use the heliport located in the Vatican Gardens to transport patients, personnel and medical equipment in urgent cases. The agreement is preparatory to the insertion of the Vatican heliport within the Regional network for emergency management. Informed of the initiative, Pope Francis expressed his joy and expressed his approval of the agreement, which will be of great help to the children. Click below to hear our conversation with Dr. Massimiliano Raponi, Director of Health Care Operations at the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome
A communiqué regarding the development quotes the President of Bambino Gesù, Mariella Enoc, as saying, “We are grateful to the Holy See, the Secretary of State and the Governatorate in particular, in the person of the SCV’s Secretary General, Bishop Fernando Vergez Alzaga , for this opportunity, which is given to the Bambino Gesù hospital, and especially to the many young patients from all over Italy, who unfortunately need urgently to reach our hospital.” Enoc goes on to say, “It is an important gesture of charity that responds to a basic health need: the physical proximity between the Vatican City State and our seat on the Janiculum Hill, in fact, will significantly shorten transport times, contributing in many cases to saving the lives of children.” Enoc also offered personal thanks the head of the Vatican Gendarmerie, Commandant Domenico Giani, who, she said, “worked so hard in a spirit of cooperation to achieve this result.” (from Vatican Radio)…