Pope Francis on Earth Day: We Have ‘Polluted and Despoiled’ the Planet

Pope Francis issued a severe indictment Wednesday of humanity’s failure to care for the planet, as environmentalists commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Earth Day.”

“Because of our selfishness we have failed in our responsibility to be guardians and stewards of the earth,” the pope said in his video-streamed General Audience. “We need only take a frank look at the facts to see that our common home is falling into serious disrepair.”

“We have polluted and despoiled it, endangering our very lives,” the pontiff continued. “For this reason, various international and local movements have sprung up in order to appeal to our consciences.”

“I deeply appreciate these initiatives; still it will be necessary for our children to take to the streets to teach us the obvious: we have no future if we destroy the very environment that sustains us,” he said in a message evocative of his past praise for climate warrior Greta Thunberg and her Fridays for Future movement.

WATCH: Kamala Harris torched over ‘zero sense’ WNBA pep talk in latest ‘word salad’ moment

Arkansas takes home top ranking for religious freedom after Gov Sanders expands key protections

‘Have You Called 911?’ Tommy Tubberville Shares Details on Lindsey Graham’s Tragic Final Moments

Watch: Today They’d Call This White Supremacist, Christian Nationalist Propaganda – In the 1980s It Was a Typical Razor Ad

These states are ‘ahead of the game’ in bringing down home prices, Trump’s housing chief says

Trump to shrink 2 Utah national monuments by 90%

Deputy US Marshal fatally shot while serving arrest warrant in Louisiana

Dog accidentally turns on toaster, sparking Maryland house fire that killed 3 family pets

Hegseth announces joint task force with DOJ to prosecute leaks to journalists ‘with the full force of the law’

Mamdani offers few answers as massive homeless encampment sprouts in west Manhattan

Historic Video: US Deployed First-Ever Sea-Based Drones to Blow Apart Submarine and Ship Facility in Iran

What to know about Darline Graham Nordone, South Carolina’s newest senator

Democrats running to replace Platner in key Senate race call for ICE to be ‘abolished’

Breaking: Trump to Address the Nation This Week in Prime-Time Comments

Trump-backed Daylight Saving Time bill clears key House hurdle

“We have failed to care for the earth, our garden-home; we have failed to care for our brothers and sisters,” Francis said in his audience Wednesday. “We have sinned against the earth, against our neighbours, and ultimately against the Creator, the benevolent Father who provides for everyone, and desires us to live in communion and flourish together.”

The pope also said that the fiftieth Earth Day provides “an occasion for renewing our commitment to love and care for our common home and for the weaker members of our human family.”

“As the tragic coronavirus pandemic has taught us, we can overcome global challenges only by showing solidarity with one another and embracing the most vulnerable in our midst,” he said.

Human beings are fashioned from the earth and the fruit of the earth sustains our life, and yet “we are not simply ‘earthly’; we also bear within us the breath of life that comes from God,” he said.

“Thus, we live in this common home as one human family in biodiversity with God’s other creatures,” he added.

“In today’s celebration of Earth Day, we are called to renew our sense of sacred respect for the earth, for it is not just our home but also God’s home,” Francis said. “This should make us all the more aware that we stand on holy ground!”

As he has done on other occasions, the pope called on his listeners to undergo “an ecological conversion that can find expression in concrete actions” because “we cannot heal the earth unless we love and respect it.”