Pope Francis: 'Revolution' needed to combat climate change

June 18, 2015 20:59

Pope Francis warned Thursday that a broad sweep of human activities -- from a blind worship of technology to an addiction to fossil fuels -- has brought the planet to the "breaking point," calling for a "cultural revolution" before the Earth is polluted beyond repair.

"Doomsday predictions," the Pope said in a sharply worded manifesto, "can no longer be met with irony or disdain."

Citing scientific consensus that we are witnessing a "disturbing warming" of the Earth's climate, Francis said that nothing short of "bold cultural revolution" could halt humanity's spiral into self-destruction.

"The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth," Francis said. "In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish."

The Pope denounces big businesses, energy companies, short-sighted politicians, scurrilous scientists, laissez faire economists, callous Christians and myopic media professionals. Scarcely any area of society escapes his probing pen.

Francis' statement came Thursday in the form of an encyclical, a letter traditionally addressed from St. Peter's Square to the more than 1 billion Catholics across the globe. Derived from the Greek word for "circle," an encyclical is among the church's most authoritative teaching documents.

Special coverage: How 2 degrees are key to climate change

But Francis has set his sights far beyond the circle of his church. With an eye toward several key climate change summits scheduled for later this year, the Pope said his letter is addressed to "every person living on this planet."

"I would like to enter a dialogue with all people about our common home," Francis said.

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