Pushes UN's climate agenda under guise of 'Laudato Sí'

by Martin Barillas • ChurchMilitant.com • April 26, 2021

In a video message celebrating Earth Day, Pope Francis said on Thursday the COVID pandemic "has shown what happens when the world stops, pauses, if but for a few months. And the impact this has on nature and climate change, with a sadly positive force, no? In other words, it hurts."

U.N. Director-General Antonio Guterres with Bergoglio

Earth Day was established by the United Nations (U.N.) in 1970 and is celebrated every April 22 to emphasize the relationship of human beings to the natural world. It's used to promote the environmentalist movement worldwide. The day has thus become one of the most celebrated by globalists.

According to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, "Let's remind more than ever in this International Mother Earth Day that we need a shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. Let's promote harmony with nature and the Earth. Join the global movement to restore our world!"

Francis: Apocalyptic Rhetoric

The pope exhorted, "For some time now, we have been becoming more aware that nature deserves to be protected, even if only because human interaction with God's biodiversity must take care with utmost care and respect."

As for the world's response to COVID-19, he posited, "It affects us all, albeit in multiple, diverse and unequivocal forms," while the "world's nature needs our lives on this planet, while it teaches us even more about what we need to do to create a just, equitable, environmentally safe planet."

Echoing environmentalist themes used by politicians and environmentalists, the pontiff claimed that the "COVID pandemic taught us this interdependence, this sharing of the planet."

Verging on apocalyptic language, he suggested that COVID and climate change show that humanity is running out of time. "We have the means, it is time to act, we are at the limit," he warned.

He said humanity may still have time to act on environmentalist goals, saying, "We will be more resilient when we work together instead of alone."

He also affirmed in such a "crisis," humanity will "come out better or worse" and warned, "If we do not come out better, we are on a path of self-destruction."

The pope said the summit was 'a happy occasion' that is pushing the world toward fulfilling the goals of the Paris Agreement.Gab Tweet

Francis noted, "When the destruction of nature is unleashed, it is difficult to halt."

Message to World Leaders

In a separate message to the Leaders Summit on Climate, hosted virtually Thursday by pro-abortion Joe Biden with some 40 national leaders, the pope encouraged them to "take charge of the care of nature, of this gift that we have received and that we have to heal, guard and carry forward." He further urged them to ensure that "the environment is cleaner, purer, and preserved," and to "take care of nature so that it takes care of us."

Greeting world leaders, including Chinese president Xi Jinping, the pope said the summit was "a happy occasion" that is pushing the world toward fulfilling the goals of the Paris Agreement at the next U.N. climate conference, which is slated for Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

During his administration, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris accord, citing its costs to American taxpayers and industry. Biden revived U.S. participation in the accord, claiming to recapture U.S. leadership in the environmentalist cause. He also canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline project, resulting in thousands of lost jobs.

At the virtual summit, Biden told fellow leaders, "This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis."

Biden revealed that he seeks to cut U.S. carbon emissions by 50%–52% from 2005 levels. In addition, he also pledged to create an international climate finance scheme to subsidize efforts by developing countries to shift away from carbon emissions. As for the United States, Biden pledged a carbon-free electrical grid by 2035.

The biggest emitters of carbon, ranked in order, are China, United States, India, Russia and Japan.

Earlier this year, Biden established the National Climate Task Force that, according to the White House, brings together bureaucrats from across 21 federal agencies and departments to enable a "Government-wide approach to combat the climate crisis."

Biden also established the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, which will be led by the first-ever national climate advisor and deputy national climate advisor.

According to National Catholic Reporter, Jose Aguto of the Catholic Climate Covenant asserts that Biden's global environmentalist summit and his American Jobs Plan are "positive steps our nation can take to uplift the dignity of all people and address climate change." Catholic Climate Covenant was founded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in union with Catholic Charities and various religious congregations.

USCCB Supportive

In February, Abp. Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, praised Biden's environmentalist executive orders. Coakley chairs the USCCB committee on domestic justice.

"In his encyclical Laudato Sí, Pope Francis presented Christians and all peoples with an integral ecology oriented towards the common good, drawing on the long-standing tradition of Catholic social teaching and rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ," Coakley said.

Hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.Gab Tweet

Coakley related that Francis warned against "the danger of a 'green rhetoric' that often coexists with economic privilege and comfort, emphasizing the need to 'hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.'" For Coakley, Biden's environmental policies "resonate deeply with an integral ecology that listens to the 'least of these.'"

Abp. Paul Coakley

Coakley added that Biden will "recommit our nation to robust and integrated climate mitigation policies." The bishop further noted the president will also "emphasize other environmental realities that deserve greater attention," including "conservation of lands, ecosystems, and agriculture" and "economic growth, clean infrastructure, and opportunities for workers."

Coakley concluded, "The swift action to restore regulations for which the USCCB previously advocated — including fuel emissions standards, hazardous air pollutants and the integrity of the National Environmental Policy Act — speak of a commitment to restoring public health and the common home."

Enacting the Laudato Sí 'Platform'

To mark the fifth anniversary of his Laudato Sí encyclical, Francis declared May 24, 2020–May 24, 2021 the special Laudato Sí anniversary year. The end of the year will then mark the beginning of the Laudato Sí platform, which seeks to put what the pope has called "integral ecology" into action.

Integral ecology is a concept found in the fifth chapter of Laudato Sí, which stems from his belief that "everything is closely related" in the natural world at even the molecular level, and that "today's problems call for a vision capable of taking into account every aspect of the global crisis."

To promote Francis' vision, the Laudato Sí Movement, sponsored by the European Union and the Francis of Assisi Academy for the Protection of the Earth, is seeking to accomplish the following goals:

Response to the cry of the earth (greater use of clean renewable energy and reducing fossil fuels in order to achieve carbon neutrality, efforts to protect and promote biodiversity, guaranteeing access to clean water for all, etc.)
Response to the cry of the poor
Ecological economics
Adoption of simple lifestyles
Ecological education
Ecological spirituality (recover a religious vision of God's creation, encourage greater contact with the natural world in a spirit of wonder, praise, joy and gratitude, promote creation-centered liturgical celebrations, develop ecological catechesis, prayer, retreats, formation, etc.)
Emphasis on community involvement and participatory action

According to Vatican News, Fr. Joshtrom Kureethadam of Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development wants to see Catholic communities around the world become "totally sustainable in the spirit of the integral ecology of Laudato Sí."

According to the report, the Laudato Sí action platform "will involve families, parishes, dioceses, schools, universities, hospitals, organizations, businesses, health care centers and religious orders. The priest said, "So almost everyone — but as communities, we become Laudato Sí communities, but always in the perspective of integral ecology."