Pope Francis asks for an environmentally sustainable lifestyle

Pope Francis releases his prayer intention for the month of September, and invites us to pray that everyone might make choices which promote a simple and sustainable lifestyle.

Pope Francis is inviting everyone to pray for “an environmentally sustainable lifestyle”.

“It makes me

Picture credit/ Public domain

very happy to see that young people have the courage to undertake projects for environmental and social improvement, since the two go together,” he said.

Pope Francis added that adults can learn much from young people, since they are often at the forefront of issues “related to care for the planet.”

“Let us take advantage of their example and reflect on our lifestyle, especially during these moments of health, social and environmental crisis,” he said.

We should take the opportunity to reflect on “the way we eat, consume, travel, or the way we use water, energy, plastics, and many other material goods,” especially those which are harmful to the environment.

“Let us choose to change!” the Pope urged. “Let us advance with young people towards lifestyles that are simpler and more respectful of the environment.”

Courageous choices matters

“The need for urgent action to combat the social and environmental crisis isn’t anything new,” read the statement. “There are more and more global alerts to try to raise the awareness of humanity that something must change.”

It also made reference to a UN report released in June which warned that the planet is “rapidly reaching a ‘point of no return’” and facing the triple threats of “biodiversity loss, climate disruption, and escalating pollution.”