Pope Francis: “Safeguard Creation. Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us!”

Pope Francis nails it in an address earlier today in which he made a strong religious argument for tackling climate change. Among other things, the Pope urged Catholics to be “Custodians [of] Creation, not Masters of Creation.” Pope Francis adds:

At the same time, however, the gift of knowledge helps us to avoid falling prey to excessive or incorrect attitudes. The first lies in the risk of considering ourselves masters of Creation. Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.

The second incorrect attitude is the temptation to limit ourselves to creatures, as if they can provide the answer to all our expectations. With the gift of knowledge, the Holy Spirit helps us not to give in to all of this…but I would like to return to the first wrong path…Custodians [of] Creation, not Masters of Creation it is a gift that the Lord has given us, to us! We are Custodians of Creation. But when we exploit Creation we destroy the sign of God’s love for us, in destroying Creation we are saying to God: “I don’t like it!. This is not good!” “So what do you like?” “I like myself!” – Here, this is sin! Do you see? Custody of Creation is custody of God’s gift to us and it is also a way of saying thank you to God. I am the master of Creation but to carry it forward I will never destroy your gift. And this should be our attitude towards Creation. Safeguard Creation. Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us! Never forget this!

The question is, has the fossil fuel industry and its puppets ever understood this? And if they have understood this, how do they live with themselves, knowing that they put their greed over the good of the earth’s environment (“God’s Creation,” as Pope Francis would say)? And what about the rest of us? What are we doing to “Safeguard Creation?”