Top cardinal provides insight into climate views
VATICAN CITY – A new development model is needed to combat global warming, one that marries economic growth to combat poverty with a sustainable use of resources, Pope Francis’ deputy said.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said both political and economic commitment will be required to ensure the Earth’s health for future generations.
Parolin’s remarks came in a message Wednesday to a conference of business and church leaders about how sustainable actions can drive the economic growth needed to lift people out of poverty. It’s a theme that Francis is expected to explore in his environment encyclical, which is due in the coming weeks.
“When the future of the planet is at stake, there are no political frontiers, barriers or walls behind which we can hide to protect ourselves from the effects of environmental and social degradation,” Parolin’s message said. “There is no room for the globalization of indifference, the economy of exclusion or the throwaway culture so often denounced by Pope Francis.”
Beatification signals redefinition of martyr
VATICAN CITY – The upcoming beatification of El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero is doing more than just giving Latin America its long-awaited saint-in-waiting. It has helped redefine the Catholic Church’s concept of martyrdom and paved the way for others killed for doing God’s work to follow in Romero’s saint-making footsteps.
Traditionally, the Catholic Church recognizes martyrs as people who were killed for refusing to renounce their faith, often during bouts of anti-Christian persecution. It assumes that the killer intended to kill out of hatred for the person’s belief in Christ, such as the many Christian martyrs being killed today in the Mideast at the hands of Islamic extremists.
A martyrdom declaration exempts the saintly candidate from the beatification requirement that the Vatican confirm a miracle attributed to his or her intercession. A second miracle is usually needed to be canonized.
Associated Press
