On the feast of St. Francis, Oct. 4, leaders of world religions or their representatives will meet at the Vatican and in Rome to draft a statement to government leaders who will gather in Scotland in November for COP26, the U.N. climate summit.
The British and Italian embassies to the Holy See and the Vatican Secretariat of State have hosted six virtual meetings since February with close to 40 leaders from world religions and 10 top climate scientists. The leaders had a chance to share their faith’s understanding of creation and the human responsibility to care for it, and the scientists updated them on the latest research, said Sally Axworthy, the British ambassador to the Holy See.
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Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, has been part of the discussions. He told reporters June 17 it was “highly likely” that Pope Francis would be involved in the October meeting, but said he could not comment on reports that Pope Francis would travel to Glasgow in November for the COP26 meeting itself.
The Vatican’s participation in the virtual meetings and preparations for the October event, “Faith and Science: Toward COP26,” was “a no-brainer” given Pope Francis’s emphasis on the need to care for the Earth and for its people, Gallagher said.
Source: Crux