Earth Is Our Garden

Pope Francis to Filipino youth: Care for the environment."  Photo: Philippines News

During his week-long Asian tour, which drew historic crowds, Pope Francis included environmental responsibility as one of his holy missives.  In Manila he said, "As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family.  When we destroy our forests, ravage our soil and pollute our seas, we betray that noble calling."

In one of his strongest statements, the pontiff said: "I don't know if it (human activity) is the only cause, but mostly, in great part, it is man who has slapped nature in the face."

Those of us who understand the urgency of acting to protect our environment were grateful for the Pope's words and hope this is the beginning of real change.

"We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon, and we got to get ourselves back to the garden.”

~ from Woodstock by Joni Mitchell