VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 122   
   DATE 01-07-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope commemorates the late Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians   
   - People and planet first: the imperative to change course   
   - Archbishop Tomasi: terrorism is the antithesis of the values and commitments   
   of peaceful national and international co-existence   
   - Message for Sea Sunday: more resources to combat human trafficking and   
   exploitation   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope commemorates the late Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians   
    Vatican City, 1 July 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a message to Bishop   
   Gregoire Ghabroyan, administrator of the Patriarchate of Cilicia of the   
   Armenians, for the funeral of His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, who   
   died   
   on 25 June, to be held in the Cathedral of St. Elie and St. Gregory the   
   Illuminator in Beirut. The message was read during the funeral ceremony by   
   Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental   
   Churches.   
    "It is with great sadness that I have learned of the return to the house of   
   the   
   Father of our beloved brother in Christ, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX   
   Tarmouni, Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians. I conserve in my heart the   
   memory of my encounter with him, accompanied by the bishops of the Synod and   
   the   
   faithful of this Patriarchal Church, on the occasion of the commemoration of   
   the   
   victims of the Metz Yegern and the proclamation of St. Gregory of Narek as as   
   Doctor of the universal Church. It was as if these events lived in the vicinity   
   of the relics of the apostle St. Peter had marked the long and faithful journey   
   of your 'Caput et Pater', revealing some of his most characteristic aspects.   
    "He was, above all, deeply rooted on the Rock that is Christ. He held that the   
   most valuable treasure that a bishop is called upon to minister to is the faith   
   that comes from apostolic preaching. His Beatitude spared nothing in ensuring   
   its dissemination, especially by promoting the continuing formation of the   
   clergy so that, even in difficult contexts, the ministers of God renew their   
   adhesion to Christ, the sole hope and consolation for humanity.   
    "He dedicated himself to ensuring that the just commemoration of the   
   sufferings   
   of the Armenian people throughout their history become an action of God's grace   
   considering the example of martyrs and witnesses, and at the same time obtained   
   from Him the balm of consolation and reconciliation, which alone may heal the   
   deepest wounds of souls and of peoples.   
    "Patriarch Nerses was finally able to rejoice with the Armenian people at the   
   elevation of St. Gregory of Narek to the luminous title of Doctor of the   
   Church.   
   His Beatitude wished the spiritual influence of this great saint be an example   
   for pastors and faithful, convinced that through St. Gregory of Narek everyone   
   can experience the wonders that the Lord is able to achieve in the heart that   
   opens up to Him in daily simplicity and humility, and in solidarity with the   
   drama of humanity, through ceaseless intercession.   
    "Invited to perpetuate this triple heritage left to us by Patriarch Nerses, we   
   implore the Holy Spirit to continue to renew the face of the Armenian Catholic   
   Church, through the commitment of pastors and faithful, and we also entrust to   
   the Father of all Mercy the labours , linked to the the limits and weaknesses   
   of   
   the condition of the pilgrims on their way to the eternal homeland".   
      
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    People and planet first: the imperative to change course   
    Vatican City, 1 July 2015 (VIS) - This morning a press conference was held in   
   the Holy See Press Office to present the Conference "People and planet first:   
   the imperative to change course" (Rome, Augustinianum, 2-3 July) organised by   
   the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace" and CIDSE, an international network   
   of Catholic non-governmental development organisations.   
    The speakers at the conference were Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president   
   of   
   the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace"; Naomi Klein, writer; Ottmar   
   Edenhofer, co-president of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate   
   Change (IPCC) and Bernd Nilles, secretary general of Cooperation Internationale   
   pour le Developpement et la Solidarite (International Cooperation for   
   Development and Solidarity).   
    Cardinal Turkson emphasised that the title of the conference, which focuses on   
   climate change, clearly indicates the aim to be pursued: "people and planet,   
   not   
   one or the other, not one at the expense of the other". He noted that in his   
   recent Encyclical "Laudato si'", the Pope proposes an integral ecology that   
   respects its human and social dimensions, and shows that climate change is one   
   of the main challenges facing humanity in our times, also highlighting that the   
   climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. "Yet the costs of   
   climate change are being borne by those least responsible for it and least able   
   to adapt to it - the poor. Overall, climate change is a global problem with a   
   spectrum of serious implications: environmental, social, economic and   
   political". In "Laudato si'", the Pope also laments the failure of past global   
   summits on the environment, and launches an urgent appeal for enforceable   
   international agreements to stop climate change.   
    In this respect, as Cardinal Turkson observes, the COP21 Conference held in   
   Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015 will be crucial in identifying   
   strong   
   solutions to the problem of climate change. The Sustainable Development Goals   
   are also relevant in this context, and coincide in various aspects with the   
   points made by Pope Francis in his Encyclical. "For example, the 13th proposed   
   goal will express the imperative to take urgent action to combat climate change   
   and its impacts. Related goals include: make cities and human settlements   
   inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable; ensure sustainable consumption and   
   production patterns; conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine   
   resources for sustainable development; protect, restore and promote sustainable   
   use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat   
   desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity   
   loss".   
    "These goals, similar to important points made in 'Laudato si'', await the   
   pledges and the will of the whole world community during the 70th United   
   Nations   
   General Assembly beginning in mid-September 2015. Yet the single biggest   
   obstacle to the imperative to change course is not economic, scientific or even   
   technological, but rather within our minds and hearts. The same mindset which   
   stands in the way of making radical decisions to reverse the trend of global   
   warming also stands in the way of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty. A   
   more responsible overall approach is needed to deal with both problems: the   
   reduction of pollution and the development of poorer countries and regions. ...   
   The political dimension needs to re-establish democratic control over the   
   economy and finance, that is, over the basic choices made by human societies.   
   This is the path the entire human family is on, the one which leads through New   
   York to Paris and beyond", concluded the prelate.   
    Naomi Klein affirmed that what Pope Francis writes in "Laudato si'" "is not   
   only a teaching for the Catholic world but for 'every person living on this   
   planet'. And I can say that as a secular Jewish feminist who was rather   
   surprised to be invited to the Vatican, it certainly spoke to me".   
    "In a world where profit is consistently put before both people and the   
   planet,   
   climate economics has everything to do with ethics and morality. Because if we   
   agree that endangering life on earth is a moral crisis, then it is incumbent on   
   us to act like it. That does not mean gambling the future on the boom and bust   
   cycles of the market. It means policies that directly regulate how much carbon   
   can be extracted from the earth. It means policies that will get us to 100 per   
   cent renewable energy in two or three decades - not by the end of the century.   
   And it means allocating common, shared resources - like the atmosphere - on the   
   basis of justice and equity, not winners-take-all".   
    Therefore, "a new kind of climate movement is fast emerging. It is based on   
   the   
   most courageous truth expressed in the encyclical: that our current economic   
   system is both fuelling the climate crisis and actively preventing us from   
   taking the necessary actions to avert it. A movement based on the knowledge   
   that   
   if we don't want runaway climate change, then we need system change. And   
   because   
   our current system is also fuelling ever widening inequality, we have a chance,   
   in rising to the climate challenge, to solve multiple, overlapping crises at   
   once. In short, we can shift to a more stable climate and fairer economy at the   
   same time".   
    "This growing understanding is why you are seeing some surprising and even   
   unlikely alliances. Like, for instance, me at the Vatican. Like trade unions,   
   Indigenous, faith and green groups working more closely together than ever   
   before. Inside these coalitions, we do not agree on everything. ... But we   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)