Pope Francis has unveiled an encyclical—a rare and influential Vatican statement—on climate change and the environment and argues “concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion” in paragraph 120 of his encyclical.
The highly-anticipated document says that global warming is real, is caused partly by human activity and is a grave threat to humanity. The Vatican hopes it will pave the way for a strong international climate deal later this year when diplomats descend on Paris for United Nations talks. But Pope Francis wants the encyclical to be read by everyone—and the Vatican hopes that the document will influence much more than just the Paris talks.
