Pope Francis highlights ecological urgency and reinforces the importance of COP30 in Brasil

At the launch of the Fraternity Campaign, themed “Fraternity and Integrated Ecology”, the National Conference of Brazil (CNBB) presented a message from Pope Francis that emphasized the urgency of ecological conversion and the need to care for our planet. The pontiff underscored the significance of the campaign and its connection to COP30, which will be held in Belém do Pará, located in the Amazônia.

By Leandro Molina | leandro.molina@presidencia.gov.br

Pope Francis' message was read out at the opening of the 2025 Fraternity Campaign in Brasilia. Despite being hospitalized for pneumonia, he conveyed his thoughts to the Brazilian people, reiterating the importance of this year's Campaign theme: "Fraternity and Integrated Ecology."

The Pope emphasized that the ecological crisis requires a deep inner conversion and a change of attitude towards the environment. Referring to COP30, which will take place in Belém do Pará in November, the head of the Catholic Church expressed his hope that the event will be a milestone in the effective commitment of nations and international organizations to overcoming the climate crisis. "The theme of this year's Campaign for Fraternity expresses the willingness of the Church in Brasil to contribute so that, during COP30, nations can commit themselves to practices that help to preserve the marvelous work of creation," Pope Francis said.

The message highlights the Church's commitment in line with the teachings of the encyclical Laudato Si’ - a 2015 letter guiding the Catholic Church on matters of social concern - and the apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum - "Praise be to God". The document was published in 2023 and is a continuation of Laudato Si’.

The Fraternity Campaign was launched by the National Conference of Bishops of Brasil (CNBB) in line with Pope Francis' message and the priorities of COP30. The opening ceremony was attended by Dom Ricardo Hoepers, Auxiliary Bishop of Brasilia and Secretary-General of the CNBB, who highlighted the urgency of a change in attitude towards the environmental crisis in the world.

The Bishop drew attention to the human desire to dominate natural resources, and invited everyone to take on the mission of “cultivating and guarding creation”, warning of the risk of reaching a “point of no return” in the climate crisis. “The Church has been warning us about the urgency of changing our lifestyle, which is selfish, individualistic, consumerist, exploitative, speculative, and destructive of natural resources and human dignity. Lent, the fraternity campaign, and integral ecology sound like a breath of the Holy Spirit on a generation, our generation, which can avoid the point of no return of the climate crisis,” he observed.

While the campaign invites the faithful to personal and collective conversion, COP30 will be a global space to discuss and implement concrete actions in the face of climate emergencies. Pope Francis' message reinforces this connection, highlighting the role of civil society in building a more just and sustainable future, argued Bishop Hoepers. “The fraternity campaign helps us to commit ourselves to paths of conversion with concrete actions. Our action is for here and now. We have warning signs, and our generation is being summoned to the sublime vocation of caring for the goods of creation and recovering the dignity of the peoples who have suffered the most and have been hurt by the consequences of the climate crisis,” he said.

Bishop Ricardo Hoepers closed the ceremony with a call to action: “Let us inform ourselves, organize ourselves, and mobilize ourselves. Ignorance is an evil that we need to fight with awareness and concrete commitment. The 2025 Fraternity Campaign thus presents itself as a call to hope and responsibility, in line with global challenges and Pope Francis' message for COP30,” he urged.

About the Fraternity Campaign

Held for more than 60 years by the CNBB, the Fraternity Campaign is an initiative that mobilizes the Church and the society of Brasil around themes relevant to the promotion of social justice and the common good.

Pope Francis' letter to the Brazilian people

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Brasil,

With this day of fasting, penance, and prayer, we begin Lent in this Jubilee Year of the Incarnation. On this occasion, I would like to express my closeness to the pilgrim Church of this nation and congratulate my brothers and sisters of the National Episcopal Conference of Brasil for the initiative of the Campaign of Fraternity, which has been repeated for more than 60 years and which this year has as its theme "Fraternity and Integral Ecology" and as its motto the passage from the Bible in which, contemplating the work of creation, "God saw that everything was very good" (cf. Gen 1:31).

With the Campaign of Fraternity, the Bishops of Brasil invite all the Brazilian people to embark on a journey of conversion during Lent, based on the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, which I published almost ten years ago, on 24 May 2015, which I felt the need to complement with the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum, of 4 October 2023.

In these documents, I wished to draw the attention of all humanity to the urgency of a necessary change of attitude in our relations with the environment, recalling that the current "ecological crisis is a call to a profound interior conversion" (Laudato Si’, 217). In this sense, my Predecessor of venerable memory, John Paul II, already warned of the need to "encourage and support the 'ecological conversion' which has made humanity more sensitive" (Audience, 17 January 2001) to the theme of care for our common home.

I, therefore, commend the efforts of the Episcopal Conference to propose once again the theme of ecology as a horizon, together with the desired personal conversion of each believer to Christ. May we all, with the special help of God's grace in this Jubilee season, change our convictions and practices to allow nature to rest from our greedy exploitation.

The theme of the Fraternity Campaign this year also expresses the willingness of the Church in Brasil to make its contribution so that, during COP30 next November, which will be held in Belém do Pará, in the heart of the beloved Amazon, nations and international organizations can effectively commit themselves to practices that help overcome the climate crisis and preserve the wonderful work of Creation, which God has entrusted to us and which we have a responsibility to pass on to future generations.

I hope that this Lenten journey will bear much fruit and fill us all with the hope of which we are pilgrims during this Jubilee. I hope that the Fraternity Campaign will once again be a powerful help to the people and communities of this beloved country in their process of conversion to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and their concrete commitment to integral ecology.

Entrusting these wishes to the care of Our Lady of Aparecida, I gladly impart the Apostolic Blessing to all the sons and daughters of the beloved Brazilian nation, especially to those who are committed to the care of our common home, and I ask you to continue to pray for me.

Rome, St John Lateran, February 2025, Liturgical Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Franciscus

English version: Trad. Bárbara Menezes

Editorial review and editing: Enrique Villamil