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Papal Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees January 12th, 2012

World Day of Migrants and Refugees is January 15th

Copies of the Pope’s message, entitled ‘Migration and New Evangelization’, can be accessed in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Click on the links to access the documents:

• English
• Spanish 
• French
• Italian 

Pope’s 2012 World Day of Peace Message January 2nd, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI’s Annual World Day of Peace Message focused on “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace”.

Read his message…

Pope Benedict’s 2010 Message for Lent February 15th, 2010

Lent begins this Wednesday on February 17th. Pope Benedict XVI is inviting Catholics during this time of Lent to reflect on the theme of “Justice.” The Pope’s message for Lent is available at the Vatican website with translations in different languages.

In his remarks prior to his address the Pope said: “Jesus does not propose a revolution of a social or political type, but one of love, which he has already realized with his cross and his resurrection. On these are founded the beatitudes, which propose a new horizon of justice, initiated by Easter, by which we can become just and build a better world.”

Read the Message of Lent here…

Lenten Carbon Fast 2010 February 10th, 2010

“The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.” — Pope Benedict, Encyclical Caritas in Veritate

A Lenten Carbon Fast calendar is available from the Environmental Outreach Committee of the Archdiocese of Washington. Please use it as part of your Lenten discipline.

The calendar says: “As Catholic Christians we have a responsibility to be wise stewards of God’s Creation and each of us must decide how we can improve our stewardship to safeguard God’s creation now and for future generations. The Archdiocese environmental Outreach Committee suggests the following list of 40 carbon fasting actions everyone can consider as a part of your Lenten preparation for the Easter season. Each of these actions will reduce our production of climate change pollution and help to preserve God’s great gift of Creation.”

Download a PDF of the Lenten Calendar here…

Pope Benedict Denounces the Failure to Forge New Climate Treaty January 11th, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI strongly criticized the failure of world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month, saying that world peace depends on safeguarding God’s creation.

The Pope made his comments in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Vatican, an annual appointment during which the pontiff reflects on issues the Vatican wants to highlight to the diplomatic corps.

Pope Benedict has been very vocal about the need to protect the environment, taking steps to decrease the carbon footprint of the Vatican. Protection of creation is a moral issue for the pontiff who highlighted the fact that climate change is particularly critical for island nations, and also for the African continent where the battle for resources and increasing desertification has led to armed conflicts.

In his speech, Benedict criticized the “economic and political resistance” to fighting environmental degradation and creating a new climate treaty at last month’s negotiations in Copenhagen.

Learn more…

Papal World Day of Peace Message – If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation January 4th, 2010

Pope Benedict’s World Day of Peace Message focuses this year on the theme: If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.

According to the Pope, “Respect for creation is of immense consequence, not least because “creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God’s works”,[1] and its preservation has now become essential for the pacific coexistence of mankind.

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