Pope Francis: Caring for our common home requires conversion

Original article published by Vatican News


Pope Francis meets with participants taking part in an International Conference of the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation which is focusing on the Pope’s Encylical Laudato si’


The occasion that gave rise to the idea of ​​setting up the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation was the Encyclical “Centesimus Annus” promulgated by Saint John Paul II on 1 May 1991.

This year, the foundation’s International Conference has chosen to reflect on Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter, Laudato si’.

Greeting conference participants on Saturday, the Pope noted that in the last four years since the document’s publication there had been signs of an increased awareness of the need to care for “our common home.”

In particular, he mentioned the adoption, by many nations, of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as, “a growing investment in renewable and sustainable energy sources; new methods of energy efficiency; and a greater sensitivity, especially among young people, to ecological concerns.”

Challenges

But the Pontiff also pointed to a number of challenges and issues that still remain, such as, improper use of natural resources and attitudes of unbridled individualism, consumption and wastefulness.

“Faced with the enormity of such challenges”, he said, “it would be easy to lose heart, giving in to uncertainty and anxiety.  Yet, he quoted, “human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start”.

Renewed ethical vision

The Pope underlined that, “adequate responses to current problems cannot be superficial.”  Rather, he added, “what is needed is precisely a conversion, a “turning around”, that is, a transformation of hearts and minds.”

 

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