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Pope Francis: A Christian Who Does Not Protect Creation ‘Does Not Care About the Work of God’

By David Gibson, Religion News Service
Photo via Alistair Scott / RNS
Photo via Alistair Scott / RNS
Feb 9, 2015
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If you are a Christian, protecting the environment is part of your identity, not an ideological option, Pope Francis said Feb. 9.

“When we hear that people have meetings about how to preserve creation, we can say: ‘No, they are the greens!’” Francis said in his homily at morning Mass, using a common name for environmental activists.

“No, they are not the greens! This is the Christian!” he said.

“A Christian who does not protect creation, who does not let it grow, is a Christian who does not care about the work of God; that work that was born from the love of God for us,” Francis continued. “And this is the first response to the first creation: protect creation, make it grow.”

The pope — who took his name from St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the environment — has made care for the environment a hallmark of his papacy since he was elected nearly two years ago.

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Photo via Alistair Scott / RNS
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