Pope: Environment should not be ‘bargaining chip’ to wield power, exploit poor
July 2, 2025
Pope Leo XIV declared that nature should not be a “bargaining chip” in his message announcing the theme “Seeds of Peace and Hope” for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, set for Sept. 1.
Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, released 10 years ago, the Holy Father said the “Bible provides no justification for us to exercise ‘tyranny over creation’” and should therefore not be exploited.
“Nature itself is reduced at times to a bargaining chip, a commodity to be bartered for economic or political gain,” Leo said. “As a result, God’s creation turns into a battleground for the control of vital resources.”
The pope said poor nations, marginalized societies, and Indigenous communities are destabilized and penalized as a result of conflicts over water and natural resources as well as the destruction of forests and agricultural areas.
“These various wounds are the effect of sin,” he added. “This is surely not what God had in mind when he entrusted the earth to the men and women whom he created in his image.”
In his July 2 message, the pope said three things are necessary for genuine environmental justice: prayer, determination, and concrete actions.
Leo invited Catholics to prayerfully consider the significance of seeds as a metaphor of coming of the kingdom of God in Scripture, saying: “Jesus often used the image of the seed.”
“In Christ, we too are seeds, and indeed, ‘seeds of peace and hope,’” he said. “The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Spirit of God can make an arid and parched desert into a garden, a place of rest and serenity.”
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