"Let’s heed the call to stand by the victims of environmental and climate injustice, and to put an end to this senseless war on creation". These are very timely words, even for our country, which has been bent by the terrible flooding in Emilia Romagna, Pope Francis spoke yesterday for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which falls on September 1. "We are seeing the effects of this war in so many rivers that are drying up," the Pontiff stressed, adding that "rapacious consumerism, fueled by selfish hearts, is disrupting the planet's water cycle" and "the unbridled use of fossil fuels and the felling of forests are creating rising temperatures and causing severe droughts. Frightening water shortages increasingly plague our homes, from small rural communities to large metropolises. In addition, predatory industries are depleting and polluting our drinking water sources with extreme practices such as hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas extraction, uncontrolled mega-extraction projects and intensive animal farming. 'Sister water,' as St. Francis calls it, is being plundered and turned into 'commodities subject to the laws of the market'". "How can we contribute to the mighty river of justice and peace in this Time of Creation? What can we, especially as Christian Churches, do to restore our common home so that it once again teems with life? We must resolve to transform our hearts, our lifestyles and the public policies that govern our societies," Francis continued, who then added, "First, let us contribute to this powerful river by transforming our hearts. This is essential if any other transformation is to begin. It is the 'ecological conversion' that St. John Paul II urged us to undertake: the renewal of our relationship with creation, so that we no longer consider it as an object to be exploited, but on the contrary, we guard it as a sacred gift of the Creator. Let us realize, then, that an overall approach requires us to practice ecological respect on four paths: toward God, toward our fellow human beings of today and tomorrow, toward all of nature, and toward ourselves".
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