Pope Francis urges political leaders to accept reality of climate change

Man-made ecological crisis hitting world's poorest hardest, pontiff says

Pope Francis is greeted by pilgrims from Africa during his Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican on 30 August 2017 (Tony Gentile/Reuters)

Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians are urging political leaders to “support the consensus of the world” that climate change and other environmental ills have created an ecological crisis that is harming the world's poorest the most.

Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I called for urgent action to “heal our wounded creation.”

They blame the state of degradation on “moral decay” and “our insatiable desire to manipulate and control the planet's limited resources, and our greed for limitless profit in markets.”

Christianity's top spiritual leaders issued the joint appeal on Friday, which both Catholic and Orthodox churches mark as a day of prayer for God's creation.

Their message didn't single out individual countries, but the Trump administration has announced it is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.

AP