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concerns are forged together, comprising an intertwining spiral that can either
descend or ascend.
If we value each individual made in the image of God, and if we value
every particle of God’s creation, then we will care for each other and our world.
In religious terms, the way we relate to nature and the biodiversity of creation
directly reflects the way we relate to God and to our fellow human beings.
This is precisely why only a few months ago, together with the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, we jointly signed
an article that appeared in the International New York Times in response to a
report by the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change. There, we
affirmed together that:
We are now – like never before – in a position to choose charity over
greed, and frugality over wastefulness in order to affirm our moral commitment
to our neighbour and our respect toward the earth. Basic human rights – such
as access to safe water, clean air and sufficient food – should be available to
everyone without distinction or discrimination.
This is also why, next month, we shall travel to Paris, which will be the
center of the world’s attention and expectation, urging governmental leaders
for long-overdue climate action at the United Nations Climate Change
Conference.

The role of religion in our world

Dear friends, the first point that we would like to emphasize to you this
evening is that religion has a positive and profound role to play in our world.
There is a vital sign of our times at the beginning of this new millennium, and
that is what we might call “the return of God” – that is to say, the reevaluation
of the function and responsibility of religion in the public square. Religion
today comprises a central dimension of human life, both on the personal and
the social levels. No longer can religion be relegated to a matter of individual
preference or private practice.
Religion is becoming increasingly meaningful and momentous in
appreciating the past, analyzing the present, and even assessing the future of
our world. In our day, religion claims a public face and a social profile; and it is
invited to participate in contemporary communal discourse.
Indeed, even as we prepared our address for you today on the role of
religion in raising awareness and responding to questions about climate change
– an area where we have focused a great deal of our humble ministry over the

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