10 Pope Quotes on Social Justice, Climate Change, Colonialism

Pope Francis receives a typical sombrero from Bolivian President Evo Morales during a World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, July 9, 2015. | Photo: Reuters


Published 10 July 2015 (3 hours 55 minutes ago)



During his tour of South America the pope has emphasized his message of social inclusion, peace and justice Pope Francis addressed social movements from around the world on Thursday during his visit to Bolivia. Below we look at some of the highlights.  


On Social Justice

• "The rights of the planet, and the right to shelter and work, for all our brother sisters are sacred rights worth fighting for"   
• “Its not enough to let some (wealth) trickle down, when the poor shake that cup it never trickles down by itself,”   
• “There should be no family without a home, no farmer with land, no workers without rights, no people without sovereignty, no person without dignity, no child without childhood, no youth without possibilities, no elderly without venerable old age.”   
• "You, the lowly, the exploited, the poor and underprivileged, can do, and are doing, a lot. I would even say that the future of humanity is in great measure in your own hands, through your ability to organize and carry out creative alternatives, through your daily efforts to ensure the three "l's" (labor, lodging, land)."   

On Colonialism 

• “The new colonialism  is taking on diverse forms. At times it is the anonymous power of money, of money-lending corporations, of free trade agreements and the imposition of austerity measures that tighten the belts of the workers and the poor...”   
• “No power has has the right to strip poor countries of their sovereignty... When they do it we see new forms of colonialism that seriously affect the possibilities of peace and justice....”   
• “The people of the world want to control their own destiny and want to march peacefully towards justice... They do not want to be lectured and they don't want interference from the stronger who subordinate the weaker…”   
• "I say this to you with regret: many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of god.   
• "I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America."   

On Climate Change 

• "Time, my brothers and sisters, seems to be running out; we are not yet tearing one another apart, but we are tearing apart our common home. Today, the scientific community realizes what the poor have long told us: harm, perhaps irreversible harm, is being done to the ecosystem. The earth, entire peoples and individual persons are being brutally punished. And behind all this pain, death and destruction there is the stench of what Basil of Caesarea called "the dung of the devil."

Source
.