Does the Pope think mankind will destroy the earth or God?

Question

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL0111597220070901?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews

Answer 1

While the Catholic Church worships God and not His Creation, the Church does teach that we should be responsible stewards of that Creation.

Long before the current ecological movement developed, Catholic saints taught respect for all of God's Creation.

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men."
-- St. Francis of Assisi

The Catholic Church enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.

Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.

God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image.

Those responsible for business enterprises are responsible to society for the economic and ecological effects of their operations.

Here are some interesting websites and writing expressing the Churchs high respect for God's Creation:

The Catholic Conservation Center: http://conservation.catholic.org/index.htm

"Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation" by Pope John Paul II: http://conservation.catholic.org/ecologicalcrisis.htm

"The Ecological Conversion" by Pope John Paul II: http://conservation.catholic.org/john_paul_ii.htm

"Declaration on the Environment" signed by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on June 10, 2002: http://conservation.catholic.org/declaration.htm

Many Saints speak out for God's Creation: http://conservation.catholic.org/saints.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Perhaps both. It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that at the end of time God will destroy the earth by fire and a new heaven and a new earth will exist (what exactly the new heaven and new earth will be is subject to speculation). That belief however does not mean that man does not play a role. God may allow man to destroy the earth himself as a way of exacting His just judgment for those who choose not to repent. Ultimately, God works all things for the good of those who love Him - who respond to His love with true repentance and take hold of His mercy.

Answer 3

I think the Pope thinks mankind will destroy God. Yep.

Answer 4

I do believe the same thing too.

Answer 5

no, but Nietzche does.