Pope Leo XIV addressed bishops at the United Nations’ COP30 climate alarmism summit on Monday, lamenting not enough political leaders follow the Paris climate agreement and demanding more “political will” to stop alleged climate change.
Pope Leo offered remote remarks to bishops in the host city of Belém, Brazil, representing the Catholic church at COP30. The event, formally titled the “Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)”, occurs annually to bring together environmental activists, world leaders, and, increasingly, fossil fuel lobbyists to discuss global regulations on carbon emissions and other climate issues.
The most recent editions of the summit have become chaotic as far-left “green” activists demand the participating nations donate increasingly large amounts to the climate doom cause and vy for attention against representatives of key fossil fuel exporting countries and private companies.
The world’s most prolific polluting countries – India, China, and the United States – did not send their leaders to COP30 this year. President Donald Trump did not send any American representatives to the event, despite repeated pleas from leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
COP30 began on November 10 this year and has already experienced a violent mob attack on the site of the conference as, last week, a mob of indigenous activists broke through security barriers and attacked those participating on site.
Pope Leo XIV is also not in Brazil for the event but used his message to the bishops to encourage them to demand more climate action from participating governments.
“Creation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat,” the pope claimed in his remarks, lamenting that, allegedly, “one in three people live in great vulnerability because of these climate changes.”
“As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to act swiftly, with faith and prophecy, to protect the gift He entrusted to us,” the pope continued.
Pope Leo went on to compliment the Paris Agreement, a global legal document that demands signatories allocate money to the climate cause, as “our strongest tool for protecting people and the planet,” but lamented disinterest in the agreement from countries it unfairly targets for payments.
“It is not the Agreement that is failing, we are failing in our response,” the head of the Catholic Church said. “What is failing is the political will of some. True leadership means service, and support at a scale that will make a difference.”
“Stronger climate actions will create stronger and fairer economic systems. Strong climate actions and policies – both are an investment in a more just and stable world,” Pope Leo predicted.
Pope Leo has prioritized climate action as a policy directive of his leadership of the Holy See since being elected pope in May. In July, the pontiff held a “green” Mass with the theme of “climate justice,” particularly for the vulnerable and poor who, he asserted, face more harshly the consequences of alleged climate change.
In October, Pope Leo made headlines by leading an event in which he blessed a large block of ice that had reportedly fallen off of the Greenland Ice Sheet, estimated to be 20,000 years old.
“May it awaken our hearts, cleanse our indifference, soothe our grief and renew our hope through Christ our lord,” the pope said in his blessing.
Representing the Vatican at COP30, in addition to the bishops attending the pope’s message, are representatives of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD). CAFOD Director of Advocacy and Communications Neil Thorns told Vatican News on Monday that both he and the Vatican leadership considered it “really important that the Catholic world has a strong presence here,” and in particular “the Holy See as a state party.”
“Weather patterns are becoming more erratic … those people who may have relied on rains, you can’t rely on rains, or when they come, they are so full that it washes away crops,” Thorns observed, adding that Catholics “bring a critical message of concern for the poorest communities in the world … but also that message of hope that we can do something about it.”
COP30 has struggled as an organized event for months before its official opening in November, in part due to its location. President Lula chose Belém, a city deep in the Amazon Rainforest, as the host to highlight the importance of rainforest environments, but the city did not boast the proper infrastructure to handle the influx of tens of thousands of visitors for the event. The situation resulted in massive increases in the price of local hotels and very limited vacancies. Some attendees were forced to stay in “love motels,” facilities typically used by locals for sexual trysts.
At the actual site of the gathering, the most senior United Nations official on climate change wrote a letter to the Brazilian government last week complaining of unacceptable conditions for the diplomats and representatives at COP30. Among the issues the letter highlighted were regular ceiling leaks during violent rainforest storms, a significant lack of proper air conditioning and heat issues, and the failure of safety protocol to protect participants from the mob of indigenous rioters that broke into the “blue zone” for diplomats last week.
Speaking to Fox News on Friday, Marc Morano of ClimateDepot.com revealed that the facilities did not have toilets that could handle the use of toilet paper.
“This conference has no ability to use toilet paper,” he told host Laura Ingraham. “They could — they — the U.N. which once they manage our economies 100 years from now on energy, they literally have a memo out to all delegates not to use toilet paper in the toilet. You have to put them in a special bin. They went six hours with world leaders having no toilet.”
