ROME — Pope Francis urged a delegation of Cambodian Buddhists to conversion this week not to Christianity, but to environmental responsibility.
In his address to Buddhists in the Vatican Thursday, the pontiff did not utter the name of Jesus, but four times he insisted on the need for “ecological conversion” as the common call for both Buddhists and Christians alike.
“Ecological conversion happens when the human roots of the present environmental crisis are named,” the pope contended, and “when true repentance leads to the slowing or halting of trends, ideologies and practices that are hurtful and disrespectful to the earth.”
This conversion also takes place when “people commit to promoting models of developments that heal wounds inflicted by greed, excessive search for financial profits, lack of solidarity with neighbors and disrespect for the environment,”…
