Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec 18, 2009 / 17:46 pm
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the head of the Vatican delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, addressed the High-Level Segment of the conference on Thursday. His message underscored the inefficacy of the current economic and development models, promoted the efforts of the Church and others to raise awareness to safeguard an "authentic human ecology" and pledged continued Vatican support for all initiatives that protect creation.
Migliore began his address by asking aloud what the reasons might be for the delay in adopting "common binding measures and adequate budgets for an effective mitigation and adaptation to ongoing climate change."
He attributed the lethargy to a mixture of the complexity of the issue, conflicting national interests, difficulty in quantifying individual responsibility and overbearing energy policy. All of these considerations, he continued, converge on the central element of "the necessity of a new and deeper reflection on the meaning of the economy and its purposes, and a profound and far-reaching revision of the model for development, to correct the malfunctions and distortions."
Earth's ecological health and man's moral and cultural well-being require it, he said.