The Earth raises a song and a cry

“Hear the voice of creation” and the theme of the Time of creation of this year. This ecumenical period – remember Pope francesco in his Message for the occasion – “begins on September 1st with the World day of prayer for the care of creation Well yes concludes the October 4th with the feast of St. Francis. It is a special time for all Christians to pray and take care of our common home together ”.

The perspective is that of listening to the voice of Nature itself, almost echoing holy Hildegard of Bingen: “If we learn to listen to it, we notice a kind of dissonance in the voice of creation. On the one hand, it is a sweet song that praises our beloved Creator; on the other, it is a bitter cry that complains of our human mistreatment. The sweet song of creation invites us to practice an ecological spirituality, attentive to the presence of God in the natural world … For Christ’s disciples, in particular, this luminous experience strengthens the awareness that ‘everything was made through him and without him nothing was made of what exists’ (Jn 1,3)… Let us join with Saint Francis of Assisi in singing: ‘Praise, my Lord, with all your creatures’ ”. Unfortunately – continues the Pope – “that sweet song is accompanied by a bitter cry. Or rather, from a chorus of bitter cries.

First, it is there sister Mother Earth crying. At the mercy of our consumer excesses, it groans and begs us to stop our abuse and its destruction … At the mercy of a despotic anthropocentrism, at the antipodes of the centrality of Christ in the work of creation, countless species are dying out, forever ceasing their hymns of praise to God. But it is also the poorest of us who cry out.

Exposed to the climate crisis, i poor people suffer most severely from the impact of drought, floods, hurricanes and heat waves that continue to become more intense and frequent. Yet, cry our brothers and sisters of native peoples. Due to predatory economic interests, their ancestral territories are invaded and devastated from all sides, uttering a cry that rises to the skies. Finally, our children cry out ”,“ threatened by a myopic selfishness ”.

Francesco then calls everyone back to own responsibilities: “Listening to these bitter cries, we must repent and change harmful lifestyles and systems ... As people of faith, we feel further responsible to act, in daily behavior, in consonance with this need for conversion. But it is not only individual … even the community of nations is called to commit itself, especially in the meetings of the United Nations dedicated to the environmental question, with a spirit of maximum cooperation …

I repeat: I want to askin the name of God, to large mining companies – mining, oil, forestry, real estate, agri-food – to stop destroying woods, wetlands and mountains, stop polluting rivers and seas, stop poisoning people and food ”.

According to the Pope, international summits can still bring about a decisive turning point, but more courage is needed. “One cannot fail to recognize – writes – theexistence of an ecological debt of the economically richer nations, which have polluted the most in the last two centuries. It requires them to take more ambitious steps both at COP27 [Sharm el- Sheikh, 6-18 novembre] than at Cop15 [Montreal, 5-17 dicembre].

This involves, in addition to a determined action within their borders, of fulfill their promises of financial and technical support for economically poorer nations, which are already bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. Furthermore, it would be advisable to urgently think about a further one financial support for biodiversity conservation. Even the economically less rich countries have significant but diversified responsibilities; the delays of others can never justify one’s inaction. We must all act decisively. We are reaching a breaking point ”.

To provide the Great Ones of the Earth with one decisive push will also have to contribute prayer. “During this Time of Creation – ends the Message – we pray that the COP27 and COP15 summits can unite the human family for decisively address the double crisis of the climate and the reduction of biodiversity“. The “bitter cry of creation, let us listen to it and respond with facts, so that we and future generations can still rejoice with the sweet song of life and hope of creatures”.

The Earth raises a song and a cry – LaVoce