In the message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Francis underlines the choice made by the pandemic for simpler and more sustainable lifestyles, implementing restorative justice towards the countries of the South of the world - exploited by multinationals - and restoring the climate balance.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Restore the broken bonds with God, with other men and with the rest of creation, following those simpler and more sustainable lifestyles that the pandemic has forced us to lead, implementing restorative justice towards the countries of the South of the world - exploited by multinationals - and restoring the climate balance. This is the request contained in Pope Francis’ message for today's World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, published today.
In the document, Francis adopts the theme chosen by the ecumenical family for the celebration of the Time of Creation 2020: "Jubilee for the Earth" and recalling that "in Sacred Scripture, the Jubilee is a sacred time remember, return, rest, restore, and rejoice”, he goes on to articulates his message on these points.
The Jubilee time to remember invites us to remember that "the ultimate destiny of creation is to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath". "We exist only in relationships: with God the Creator, with our brothers and sisters as members of a common family, and with all of God’s creatures within our common home."
The Jubilee is also “a time to return to God our loving Creator. We cannot live in harmony with creation if we are not at peace with the Creator who is the source and origin of all things.” “The Jubilee season calls us to think once again of our fellow human beings, especially the poor and the most vulnerable. We are asked to re-appropriate God’s original and loving plan of creation as a common heritage, a banquet which all of our brothers and sisters share in a spirit of conviviality, not in competitive scramble but in joyful fellowship, supporting and protecting one another. A Jubilee is a time for setting free the oppressed and all those shackled in the fetters of various forms of modern slavery, including trafficking in persons and child labour.” And it is also time to go back to listening to "the voice of the earth". " The disintegration of biodiversity, spiralling climate disasters, and unjust impact of the current pandemic on the poor and vulnerable: all these are a wakeup call in the face of our rampant greed and consumption."
The crisis induced by the pandemic has shown how " how the earth can recover if we allow it to rest: the air becomes cleaner, the waters clearer, and animals have returned to many places from where they had previously disappeared. The pandemic has brought us to a crossroads. We must use this decisive moment to end our superfluous and destructive goals and activities, and to cultivate values, connections and activities that are life-giving."
In what time to repair, the Jubilee is the time for restorative justice. “In this context, I repeat my call for the cancellation of the debt of the most vulnerable countries, in recognition of the severe impacts of the medical, social and economic crises they face as a result of Covid-19. We also need to ensure that the recovery packages being developed and deployed at global, regional and national levels must be regeneration packages. Policy, legislation and investment must be focused on the common good and guarantee that global social and environmental goals are met."
The "extreme importance" that for Francis "restoring a climatic equilibrium" pushes him not only to ask for compliance with the limits set by the Paris Agreement, but also to invite "each country to adopt more ambitious national targets to reduce emissions ”, in preparation for the Climate Summit in Glasgow, UK (COP 26).
In the wake of the synod for the Amazon, then, Francis writes that " Indigenous communities must be protected from companies, particularly multinational companies, that “operate in less developed countries in ways they could never do at home” (LS, 51), through the destructive extraction of fossil fuels, minerals, timber and agroindustrial products." It is a "new type of colonialism", already denounced by John Paul II, in the face of which " to strengthen national and international legislation to regulate the activities of extractive companies and ensure access to justice for those affected".
Finally, the "gradual emergence of a great mobilization of people who at a grass roots level and from the peripheries are generously working for the protection of the earth and the poor" is praised. And " We also rejoice to see how the Laudato Si’ Special Anniversary Year is inspiring many initiatives at local and global levels for the care of our common home and the poor. This year should lead to long-term action plans to practise integral ecology in our families, parishes and dioceses, religious orders, our schools and universities, our healthcare, business and agricultural institutions, and many others as well." (FP)