Pope’s stance on environment leaked

VATICAN CITY – A draft copy of Pope Francis’ eagerly awaited encyclical on the environment calls for urgent action to protect the Earth and fight global warming, which the pope says is “mostly” due to human activity and the burning of fossil fuels.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the document that was leaked to the Italian newsweekly L’Espresso and published on its website Monday was not the final version and that the official encyclical would be released as scheduled Thursday.

The L’Espresso draft, which was published in galley form in Italian, makes many of the same points that Francis and his advisers have been making in the monthslong rollout of the document.

In the draft, Francis lays out both the scientific and moral reasons for protecting God’s creation, noting that the poor are already suffering the most from air pollution and toxic dumping and will continue to bear the brunt of rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions. The draft says population growth isn’t to blame for ecological problems but rather the consumerist, wasteful behavior of the rich.

Francis backs up his comments with science showing the impact on the planet of the continual loss of biodiversity in Amazonian rainforests, the melting of Arctic glaciers, the overfishing of the seas and the pollution of the world’s water supply.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as many environmental groups, declined to comment on the content of the document, noting the Thursday embargo set by the Vatican for the official release.