Pope Francis, a slow January day in 2018 address The 100,000 loyal people in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, are not far from where they destroyed the Amazon rainforest spread about the size of Colorado. “Native Amazonians probably haven’t been so threatened with their land as they are now,” he told the crowd. He simultaneously condemned the extractive industry and conservation efforts that “protect forests, accumulate a massive spread of forests, and pose as negotiating with them, leading to situations of indigenous oppression.”
Francis denounced the insatiable consumerism that promotes the destruction of the Amazon, supported those who say that indigenous people should respect the protection of their own territory, and urged everyone to defend isolated tribes. “Their vision of the universe and their wisdom has a lot to teach us people who are not part of their culture,” he said.
For Indigenous leader Julio Kusrich Palacios who was in the stadium that day, the words from the head of the Catholic Church claimed 1.4 billion members and had a long, troubling history of violence against Indigenous peoples around the world – welcome and important.
“There were few world leaders who spoke about our issues. The Pope publicly said that the rights of Indigenous peoples have been historically violated.” He said After Pope Francis passed away last month. “I hope that the new Pope is someone who can continue to carry out the position the deceased Pope speaks to.”
During his 12 years as a clergyman, Francis fundamentally shaped how the world’s most powerful religious institutions approached the moral and ethical call to protect the planet. Beyond his invitation to indigenous rights, Francis recognized the role of the church in colonization, viewing climate change as a moral issue born from rampant consumption and materialism. As the Trump administration dismantles climate action and cuts funding for Indigenous peoples around the world, and far-right politics continues to rise globally – experts are seeing Robert Francis Prevost’s Conclave’s choice, known as the clear beacon that faith-based climate justice has not led his predecessor anywhere.
In 2015, Pope Francis published his historic Pope letter. Laudato SI‘. In a roughly 180-page document, he clearly identifies the pollution that acquires the planet, disproportionately affecting the poor around the world, and criticising the different role of wealthy countries like the United States contributing to the climate crisis. That way, Francis had not done anything the Pope had done before. He spoke with great clarity and urgency about human degradation, not only an environmental problem, but also a social and moral problem. Laudato Si’ established a critical link between faith, climate change and social justice, making it a doctrine of Catholic doctrine.
“Pope Francis said on a daily basis that we have a disposable society. We abandon people, we abandon nature… And we say we really need a culture based on care,” Christopher Cox said. The Seventh Generation Inter-Pagan Union for Responsible Investment And a former priest. “It means caring for people, especially the poorest, the most vulnerable, the most marginalized. We also need far greater care for creation. We are given a beautiful planet and consume it at a rate far greater than what can sustain life in the long run.”
Francis, the first Latin American pope, was unique in implicitly accepting several elements of liberation theology. This is a Catholic social justice movement seeking the liberation of those alienated from oppression. While Francis was sometimes critical of the Marxist elements of the doctrine and never fully supported it, many observers view his statements about the poor and indigenous people as reflecting the central values of the doctrine.
“From the beginning of his Holy See, his outreach, his recognition of Indigenous ways, which are Catholic and Indigenous languages in Catholicism, has so far been the most broadly official recognition of Indigenous contributions to Catholicism. Over the centuries since the conquerors arrived in America and forced Indigenous people to embrace their religion, many Indigenous communities have embraced the idea that Catholicism and Indigenous culture can coexist with Catholicism.
A year after becoming Pope, Francis approved the use of two Mayan languages, Tzozzil and Zertal, in the masses and sacraments such as baptism and confession. In 2015 he expanded that list to celebrate Mass in Zertal, Tzozzil and Chol when he visited Mexico in 2016, including the Aztec language Nahuatl.
In 2022, Francis officially apologized to Canada for a residential school that tore Indigenous children from their families, leading to the deaths of many people buried in unmarked graves. The following year he rejected the doctrine of discovery. This rejects the religious concepts that settlers used to justify illegal seizures of land from indigenous peoples; Part of the 1823 U.S. Supreme Court decision Native Americans were described as “savage people.”
“The doctrine of discovery is not part of the Catholic Church’s teachings,” Pope Francis said. He added that He strongly supports the global implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He also drew a clear connection between those rights and climate action: in 2023 he revealed that there are indigenous peoples. Essential to combat climate change When he said, “Ignoring the original community in the protection of the planet is a serious mistake, not a major injustice.”
However, Pope Francis’ progressivism was limited. He in 2019 I called for a meeting of church leaders.known as the Bishop’s Conference. The Pan Amazon region is to address issues affecting the Amazon Basin. Indigenous Catholics present fostered illegal logging and violence against land advocates and proposed reform. “The wisdom of the Aboriginal people’s ancestors confirms that Mother Earth has a feminine face.” Read the document It came from gatherings, giving the church more leadership roles to women, and urges married butlers to be ordained as priests. In his responseFrancis accused him of destroying Amazon and committing “fraud and crime.” refused to accept the proposal To make church leadership more inclusive to women and married men.
So did Francis’ climate activities I’m suffering from restrictions. He changed how religious institutions viewed the climate crisis and framing that they did not act on it. Brutal injustice They could have implemented “more direct institutional behavior” for the most vulnerable, but “more direct institutional behavior,” said Nadia Ahmad, an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at Barry University, who studied faith-based environmental behavior. The previous Pope publicly supported the adoption of renewable energy, sought fossil fuel investments, and urged churches around the world to become solar, but he did not mandate what he deemed a “radical energy transition” in parishes, schools and hospitals. The work he accomplished could have been “a little more amplified and more accountable,” Ahmad said.
However, she noted that the restrictions are likely to be attributed to the contradictory politics unfolding within the church. Especially in the USresisted Francis’ progressive teachings. 2021 study Over the course of five years, most US bishops have found it “nearly quiet and sometimes misleading” in their official message to parishioners about climate change and the Pope’s famous environment.
Pope Leo XIII has been praised for his advocate for immigration and workers’ rights, but his name Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903, is known as the historic Catholic champion. Social Justice and Equality – New Pope’s track record on direct involvement with climate change is sparse.
Still, Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, has seen comments on the need for the new Pope to “move” last year.From words to actions“As a promising sign that Francis will continue his commitment to convey the urgency of the global warming world. The timing of Conclave’s unprecedented decision to choose the first pope from the United States amid a fundamental fire to the Trump administration’s climate action, elimination of environmental protection, and her indigenous attacks is not her attack.
“It could be a signal to say, “We’re back to America, the world community, the future of our planets, and the future of our planets that we’ve been working to create a future that is worthy of our children,” she said.
Leo grew up in Chicago and was a citizen of both the US and Peru, and worked as a missionary and bishop for decades before Francis made him a cardinal in 2023. And some quechuaInca language of indigenous peoples.
While he worked in Peru in the 1990s, Leo was critical of the government’s human rights abuses, but he explicitly sided with the political battle between Maoist rebels and the government of then-registered Alberto Fujimori. Still, his response to the country’s authoritarianism gives us a glimpse into what stance he takes as a pope, Casey said. “It doesn’t matter who was abusing human rights. He was with the people,” he said.
It will be Pontife in 2016 I spoke at the meeting In Brazil, attendees spoke about the threats to the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people who lived there. He praises Francis’s cyclical, describing the document as “very important,” and “in terms of this explicit expression of the Church’s concern over all of creation.” For Casey, it suggests that Pope Leo XIV, like his predecessor, is aware of issues affecting Indigenous peoples, such as the rampaging degradation of the environment.
“Both Francis and Prebust are adapting to Indigenous peoples in Latin America in ways that they couldn’t do, even if they were working in Europe or the US,” Casey said. More than a week after Conclave, who named him Pope, the Peruvian community is still celebrating Pope Leo XIV’s choice.
Alfred University historian Raybey said that Francis and Leo’s shared experiences have particularly meaningful commitment to colonialism and climate change, and commitment to the social justice aspects of the church’s mission.
“We are seeing a revival of ultra-right politics around the world. The Catholic Church next to the United Nations is one of the few multilateral organizations that can address some form or fashion to the problems of the modern and contemporary moment,” he said.
This article was originally published Grist in https://grist.org/international/pope-leo-cathimate-catholic-indigenous-francis/. Grist is a non-profit, independent media organization dedicated to telling climate solutions and stories of just the future. See more details at Grist.org.
