“We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour.”
—Pope Francis“Francis described man’s destruction of the environment as a sin,” the Guardian reported.

“The modern world has new forms of poverty, Francis said, and thus requires new forms of mercy to address them,” the Washington Post noted.

In his speech to mark the church’s World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which the pope created last year, Francis accused humans of turning the Earth into a “polluted wasteland full of debris, desolation, and filth.”

Remarking on the planet’s rapid warming, Francis observed that “[c]limate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.”

“We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour,” he said. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence.”

“We have no such right,” Francis said.

Laudato Si , Apostolic letter on climatic change released by Pope Francis this year reads as follows:-

“On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the “first day” of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord’s risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality. It also proclaims “man’s eternal rest in God”. In this way, Christian spirituality incorporates the value of relaxation and festivity”

– Given in Rome at Saint Peter’s on 24 May, the Solemnity of Pentecost, in the year 2015, the third of my Pontificate.