He didn’t elaborate, but in the United States at least, there has been a well-funded campaign that rejects the findings of 97 percent of climate scientists that global warming is likely man-made and insists that any heating of the Earth is natural.
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Bridging the Muslim-Christian divide and climate issues are major themes of the trip that also takes him to Uganda, which like Kenya has been victim of Islamist attacks, and the Central African Republic, a nation riven by sectarian conflict.
“Dialogue is not a luxury”.
The Paris climate conference, expected to adopt a new climate agreement, is scheduled to hold between November 30 and December 11.
The meeting in Paris “represents an important stage in the process of developing a new energy system which depends on a minimal use of fossil fuels, aims at energy efficiency and makes use of energy sources with little or no carbon content”, the pope said.
Francis made this last remark because he’s well aware that powerful economic interests – particularly, though not only, in the coal industry, are opposed to this and are actively involved in disinformation.
“Our faith calls for us to defend the dignity of the men and women for the good of the family”.
The black market trading – including human trafficking – “fuels political instability, organized crime and terrorism”, he stressed, to a standing ovation.
Ahead of the mass, Francis met with religious leaders of different faiths, speaking out against the radicalisation of young people and the “barbarous attacks” carried out in the name of religion. “His name must never be used to justify hatred and violence”.
Abdalla Kwamana, vice chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, said the visit as highly significant, and welcomed the Pope’s decision to include a slum in his itinerary.
“I wish I was at that Mass now”, said Jane Waceke, who was watching the Pope on television in the town of Nakuru. “The pope is here!”
‘Here, I think of the importance of our common conviction that the God whom we seek to serve is a God of peace, ‘ the Pope said. We hope his visit will bring positive change.
Pope Francis has called on leaders to step up efforts to protect the environment “in a world that continues to exploit, rather than protect, our common home”, in his first speech since landing in Kenya on Wednesday (25 November). “We need to eat, and for this, we need water”. Rooted in traditional cultures, many African Catholics have conservative values that might not align with Francis’ measured gestures of tolerance toward, for example, homosexuals. “We were not meant to be inby cement, asphalt, glass and metal, and deprived of physical contact with nature”, he said.
As Americans celebrated Thanksgiving, Francis delivered a strong note of thanks to clergy and religious in a session at a Catholic school in Nairobi.
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“Every Ugandan who is here right now is trying to put in their issues with the Pope and is trying to highlight their issues with the Pope”, he said.
