Pope on Laudato si' Platform: 'What world will we leave our children?'

By Vatican News staff writer

In his video message for the launch of the Laudato si’ Platform on Tuesday, Pope Francis notes that "with the Encyclical Laudato si’, promulgated in 2015, I invited all people of good will to take care of the Earth, which is our common home."

This "house that hosts us" has been suffering for a long time, from "the wounds that we cause by our predatory attitude," laments the Pope.

He highlights the fact that "the current pandemic has now brought to light in an even stronger way the cry of nature and that of the poor who suffer most the consequences, highlighting that everything is interconnected and interdependent and that our health is not separated from the health of the environment in which we live."

It is for this reason that we need "a new ecological approach," says Pope Francis. In this way we can "transform our way of dwelling in the world, our styles of life, our relationship with the resources of the Earth and, in general, our way of looking at humanity and of living life."

Respoinsibility to future generations

We have a great responsibility, continues the Pope, "especially with regard to the future generations."

"What world do we want to leave to our children and our young? Our selfishness, our indifference and our irresponsible ways are threatening the future of our children!" he warns.

Pope Francis then goes on to "renew" his appeal: "Let us take care of our mother Earth; let us overcome the temptation of selfishness that makes us predators of resources; let us cultivate respect for the gifts of the Earth and creation; let us inaugurate a lifestyle and a society that is finally eco-sustainable: we have the opportunity to prepare a better tomorrow for all. From God's hands we have received a garden, we cannot leave a desert to our children."

The platform

The Pope then goes on to explain that the Laudato si' Action Platform is "a seven-year journey that will see our communities committed in different ways to becoming totally sustainable, in the spirit of integral ecology."

He invites everyone to "embark on this journey together," and particularly calls on the involvement of "families - parishes and dioceses - schools and universities - hospitals - businesses and farms - organisations, groups and movements - religious institutes."

Work together, he stresses, as "only in this way will we be able to create the future we want: a more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful and sustainable world."

Bringing his message to a close, Pope Francis recalls that "there is hope."

Working together, he says, "each one with his own culture and experience, each one with her own initiatives and capacities, so that our mother Earth may be restored to her original beauty and creation may once again shine according to God’s plan."