US bishops urge young people to 'lead the way' on climate crisis

In a letter to mark the 10th anniversary of the late Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', U.S. bishops have urged young people to "lead the way" on the climate crisis.

Published on May 24, 2015, the late Francis' landmark environmental encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" urged steps to counteract "the throwaway culture which affects the entire planet."

In a joint, public letter to young people May 21, Archbishop Borys Gudziak of Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Elias Zaidan of Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chair of the USCCB's Committee on International Justice and Peace, thanked young people for their witness and called for "a renewed commitment to care for our common home, which sustains all life."

"(T)he sacred gift of creation is under threat," the bishops wrote. "Climate change and environmental degradation entrap many people in poverty, often in communities already excluded by society. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and industrial pollution threaten the livelihoods and food security of farming, fishing, and forest-dependent communities in the United States and around the world. Illegal and often unregulated mining, as well as other exploitative extractive activities, threaten Indigenous Peoples' survival and sacred places. Toxic waste results in high asthma and cancer rates in low-income communities living near sources of contamination. Extreme weather threatens the health, education, safety, and future of children born today more than in previous generations."