In an address to a UN meeting on climate change, Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, stressed the link Pope Francis made between environmental degradation and world poverty in his encyclical Laudato Si’.

Describing the problems caused by climate change as “one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day”, he criticised the lack of commitment to address them.

He quoted Pope Francis, saying: “The same mindset which stands in the way of making radical decisions to reverse the trend of global warming also stands in the way of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty. A more responsible overall approach is needed to deal with both problems: the reduction of pollution and the development of poorer countries and regions.”

US bishops slam gay marraige ruling

Reacting to the US Supreme Court decision to legalise same-sex marriage, Archbishop Kurtz, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, described it as a “tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us”.

“Neither decision [the pro-abortion decision and now the pro-gay marriage decision] is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.

“The unique meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is inscribed in our bodies as male and female. The law has a duty to support every child’s basic right to be raised, where possible, by his or her married mother and father in a stable home.

“I ask all in positions of power and authority to respect the God-given freedom to seek, live by, and bear witness to the truth.”

Pope Francis’s prayer intentions for July

The Pope’s universal prayer intention for July is: “That political responsibility may be lived at all levels as a high form of charity”.

His intention for evangelisation is: “That, amid social inequalities, Latin American Christians may bear witness to love for the poor and contribute to a more fraternal society”.

First married couple canonised together

St Therese of Lisieux’s parents will be canonised at the Vatican on October 18, during the Synod of Bishops on the family. Louis Martin and Marie Zelie Guerin Martin will be the first married couple with children to be canonised in the same ceremony.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, said the couple lived an “exemplary life of faith, dedication to ideal values, united to a constant realism, and persistent attention to the poor”. He said the French couples serves as an “extraordinary witness of conjugal and family spirituality”.

Pope on Christians and Jews

Addressing a delegation of the International Council of Christians and Jews, Pope Francis said: “Christians believe that Christ is the Word of God made flesh in the world; for Jews, the Word of God is present, above all in the Torah. Both faith traditions find their foundation in the one God, the God of the Covenant, who reveals Himself through His Word. In seeking a right attitude towards God, Christians turn to Christ as the fount of new life, and Jews to the teaching of the Torah.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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