Laudato Si; Paragraphs 7 to 9 are under the sub-heading United by the same concern. In n.7 Pope Francis gives a list of those groups that influenced his predecessors: These statements of the Popes echo the reflections of numerous scientists, philosophers, theologians and civic groups, all of which have enriched the Church’s thinking on these questions. Outside the Catholic Church, other Churches and Christian communities – and other religions as well – have expressed deep concern and offered valuable reflections on issues which all of us find disturbing. Out of that list he presents in paragraphs 8 and 9 Patriarch Bartholomew as a great example of someone whose words can influence all of us. Pope Francis quotes Patriarch Bartholomew a number of times in the two paragraphs including these two in no, 8 that are very blunt and powerful: “For human beings to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation, for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land. its air, and its life – these are sins” [15]
For “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God” [16]