The Dialog

By Francis X Rocca

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis blamed widespread degradation of the natural environment and disregard for human life on an increasingly common “throwaway culture” that places no value on the needs of others.

“We are living through a moment of crisis,” the pope said June 5. “We see it in the environment, but above all we see it in man. The human person is in danger.”

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican June 5. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The pope made his remarks during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Noting that the United Nations had designated June 5 World Environment Day, Pope Francis recalled the biblical account of creation, according to which God made man and woman to “cultivate and protect the earth.”

“Are we truly cultivating and protecting creation?” the pope asked. “Or are we instead exploiting and neglecting it?”

“We are often guided by the arrogance of domination, possession, manipulation, exploitation,” he said. “We are losing the attitude of wonder, of contemplation, of listening to creation, and thus we are no longer able to read there what Benedict XVI calls the ‘rhythm of the love story of God with man.’”

“We have distanced ourselves from God, we do not read his signs,” the pope said.

Today’s environmental problems also betray neglect of what Catholic teaching calls “human ecology,” he said.

“What rules today is not man, it is money,” the pope said, denouncing an “economy and financial system lacking in ethics.”

“Men and women are sacrificed to the idols of money and consumption,” he said. “That some homeless people freeze to death on the street, that is not news. On the other hand, a drop of 10 points in the stock markets of some cities is a tragedy. That is how people are thrown away. We, people, are thrown away, as if we were trash.”

“Human life, the person are no longer felt to be primary values to be respected and protected, especially if they are poor or disabled, if they are not yet useful, like an unborn child, or are no longer useful, like an old person,” the pope said.

Today’s “throwaway culture” is also reflected in frequent waste of food, he said, adding that “food that is thrown away might as well have been stolen from the table of the poor, the hungry.”

Prior to the audience, the pope made a half-hour circuit of the square in an open-topped popemobile, frequently stopping to kiss babies and small children handed to him by members of his security detail. An estimated 90,000 persons attended the audience, 20,000 more than had requested tickets, and the crowd spilled out into the avenue beyond.

By Catholic News Service

UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — World leaders must step up to call for an end to the escalating violence in war-torn Syria to stop the killing of innocent people and halt human rights violations, said the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations.

Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt told the world body May 15 that the Vatican continues to be gravely concerned by the situation in Syria and called upon the country’s factions to remember their obligations under international humanitarian law to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian workers and the safety of health care institutions. Read more »

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace urged U.S. leaders to take fast action on a United Nations treaty that will regulate arms sales across international borders.

Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, called upon Secretary of State John Kerry to “expedite a thorough review of the treaty” so that the U.S. Senate can adopt it and President Barack Obama can sign it in early June.

Noting that the Catholic Church has supported arms control as a means to limiting violence in the world, Bishop Pates told Kerry in an April 11 letter that the U.S. can set an example for the world by adopting the treaty quickly.

“As a world leader and major arms exporter, our nation should set a positive example for other nations to follow in efforts to reduce the flow of weapons into situations that violate human rights and cause terrible suffering,” Bishop Pates said.

The U.N. General Assembly adopted the treaty April 2 with 154 nations in favor of it and three against it with 23 countries abstaining. Only Iran, North Korea and Syria voted against the pact.

“The treaty is not perfect, but it is an important step,” Bishop Pates wrote.

Citing comments by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, Bishop Pates said church officials viewed the treaty’s adoption as “constituting a step toward establishing in the world a culture of responsibility and accountability.”

The bishop also cited church teaching on the sale of arms as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying that “public authorities have the right and duty to regulate them.”

The United States, as the world’s largest arms dealer, pushed for the treaty’s passage and despite pressure from pro-gun ownership groups to scuttle it. The groups maintained that the treaty could be invoked to control arms sales within the U.S. However, Kerry said the treaty covered only international deals.

The legal arms trade accounts for about $70 billion in sales annually. The treaty covers attack helicopters, tanks and other larger arms as well as small arms and ammunition for such weapons.

Under the agreement, nations are required to determine whether an arms shipment to another country would be used to commit atrocities or violate human rights or if they could be diverted for such purposes and report back to the U.N. on their efforts.

The full text of Bishop Pates letter is online at www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/war-and-peace/arms-trade/upload/04-11-2013-letter-to-john-kerry-arms-trade-treaty.pdf.

By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Recognizing the important role each other plays on the global stage, Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met at the Vatican April 9, discussing common efforts to promote peace and protect human dignity.

“The United Nations and the Holy See share common goals and ideals,” the U.N. secretary-general told the pope as the two sat across from each other at a desk in the papal library. Reporters were ushered out of the room at that point.

Pope Francis greets U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting at the Vatican April 9. (CNS photo/Vincenzo Pinto, pool via Reuters)

With translation assistance from a monsignor in the Vatican Secretariat of State, the pope and Ban spent about 20 minutes speaking privately.

The two spoke specifically about “situations of conflict and serious humanitarian emergencies, especially in Syria,” but also about the ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula and in several African countries “where peace and stability are threatened,” said a statement from the Vatican press office.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, who spoke with the pope after Ban left, said the pope and the U.N. leader also talked about the problem of human trafficking, especially of women — a global problem of particular concern to Pope Francis and one that he denounced in his Easter message as “the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st century.”

Pope Francis spoke about the ways the Catholic Church, as a religious institution, promotes many of the same goals as the United Nations, particularly on behalf of a holistic protection of human dignity and in the promotion of a “culture of encounter,” the Vatican statement said.

Father Lombardi said the phrase is one the pope used often as archbishop of Buenos Aires to describe his approach to the promotion of dialogue, understanding and respect among people and among religions, recognizing differences, but not allowing them to prevent meetings and discussions.

After their private meeting, Ban introduced to the pope members of his entourage, which included his wife, his Argentine chief of staff and the U.N. undersecretary for disarmament.

Pope Francis went around the room giving each guest a small boxed rosary, which still carries the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI; a papal aide said they are awaiting the arrival of rosaries with Pope Francis’ emblem.

Pope Francis spoke a few words of English during the meeting. Presenting a mosaic to Ban, the pope said, “This is for you.” Then he immediately switched to Italian to describe it as a view of Rome.

Ban gave the pope a blue-bound tome containing the text of the United Nations Charter in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. He told the pope the charter reflects “the goals and objectives of human beings, which you also promote.”

The U.N. secretary-general went from the papal library to a meeting with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, then spoke briefly with reporters. He said he invited the pope to visit the United Nations, an invitation the Vatican acknowledged, but without making a commitment to attend, and said he was particularly pleased the new pope chose the name Francis, because it has come to signify a commitment to peacemaking.

By Mark Pattison

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — Religious liberty was topic A at the eighth annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, held April 19 at a Washington hotel.

“Never in the lifetime of anyone present here has the religious liberty of the American people been as threatened as it is today,” warned Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, in remarks to the estimated 800 people in attendance.

Read more »

By Mark Pattison

Catholic News Service

The United Nations chose Oct. 31 as the date of the birth of the 7 billionth person inhabiting the planet.

The exact date when that number was reached may be in dispute. How many people really live in Lebanon, which hasn’t taken an official census in nearly 80 years? How do little brothers and sisters born surreptitiously under China’s strict “one family, one child” policy get counted?

Read more »