Pope Francis has proposed adding the care of creation to the traditional list of corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
As a spiritual work of mercy, the Pope said, care for creation requires “a grateful contemplation of God’s world”, while as a corporal work it calls for “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness”.
The Pope reflected on the need for an integral ecology in Christian life in his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on September 1. The message, entitled “Show Mercy to our Common Home”, presented the day of prayer as an occasion for Christians to “reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation” and to thank God “for the wonderful handiwork which He has entrusted to our care”.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said at a press conference that Francis’s message called on Christians to be “honest with ourselves” and acknowledge that “when we hurt the earth, we also hurt the poor” and thus commit “a sin against creation, against the poor and against those who have not yet been born”.
“This means that we must examine our consciences and repent. I realise that this is not the way we traditionally think about sin. These are sins, Pope Francis says, that we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed,” the cardinal added.
In his message the Pope said that concern for the planet’s future unites religious leaders and organisations and draws attention to “the moral and spiritual crisis” at the heart of environmental problems.
“Christians or not, as people of faith and goodwill we should be united in showing mercy to the earth as our common home and cherishing the world in which we live,” the Pope said.
Catholics welcome Egypt’s controversial church law
The Coptic Catholic Church has welcomed a new Egyptian law regulating the building of Christian places of worship.
Last week Egypt passed the law codifying the rights of Christians to build and renovate churches in the mostly Muslim country. Under the law, regional governors must rule within four months on church-building and renovation applications and provide a “justified decision”, subject to appeal, if refusing authorisation.
Critics have said that some provisions are vaguely worded and could be used to block permits. But Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Coptic Catholic Church, said: “We now have a law which meets modern needs … Having had the same law since the Ottoman Empire, we’re satisfied we now have one which seeks to avoid sectarian enmities.”
Priests who ministered in Egypt under the old law said that any permit that had to do with a church building had to be signed by the president. One priest said he waited 21 years for a permit to build churches.
The new law had been actively promoted by Egypt’s president, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Georgetown sorry for slave sale
The President of Georgetown University in the US has apologised for the university’s sale of 272 slaves nearly 180 years ago.
John DeGioia said a building named after the Jesuit university’s then president would be renamed Isaac Hall in honour of the first man listed in the sale documents. Calling the sale a “disgrace”, DeGioia said descendants of the slaves would be given preference in admissions.
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