by Joseph Yun Li-sun

In the message issued by the chairman of the Committee for Justice and Peace, Korean bishops warn that humans too arrogant, that they must go back to caring for the earth.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – “Like God who loves all souls, we can hope that when we love and take care of rivers, animals and plants, as well as the natural resources the earth provides us, we love ourselves,” said Mgr Matthias Ri Iong-hoon, Bishop of Suwon, in his message for this year’s Day for the Environment’ whose theme is “We have to live together with all creatures without arrogance”.

“The main culprits in the world’s environmental crisis, including Korea, are no other than we human beings. We are sinful agents of the economics, contempt for life, lust for possession and hedonism, and indiscriminate development,” wrote Mgr Ri, who also chairs the Committee for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.

“These are the sinful phenomena that stem from our arrogant illusion that we can do anything and solve all problems. This is one of the many faces of the Tower of Babel. This is a problem caused by the neglect of our responsibility to care for God’s other beloved creatures,” he explained.

“The world is groaning with pain. According to the ‘2010 State of the Future’ report of the United Nations, the most pressing problem in the world village is climate change.”

“The report tells us that the temperature of the earth will rise” and that “all glaciers and icebergs will melt,” he said.

Therefore, as natural disasters increase, we must think about rivers, lakes and animals as living things, worthy of our greatest consideration.

• korea
• earth
• environment
• matthias
• ri
• iong-hoon