Deseret News reporter Tad Walch wrote an article at the end of last week pointing out similarities between statements made recently by Catholic Pope Francis on environmental stewardship and the views expressed by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The pope issued his 184-page encyclical on the environment on Thursday, June 18, 2015.
Pope Francis said there is "a relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature."
Walch reports that Church leaders “have made strong statements of their own about the environment over the past two years, some strikingly similar to comments by Pope Francis.”
"In these recent statements, both Catholic and LDS leaders clearly state that the dominion over the earth taught in the Bible requires compassion for the earth and all its creatures," he wrote.
In his article, Walch references the Mormon Newsroom's Environmental Stewardship and Conservation topic page, which includes links to selected scriptures, resources and a "landmark" address given by Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy, who spoke a couple of years ago at a symposium on behalf of the Church about faith and the environment. Elder Nash said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints desires to do what is right in its temporal affairs including environmental practices — even if it is something more than the requirements of the law.”
LDS environmental stewardship statement, recent talk share similarities with Pope Francis' encyclical http://t.co/klmO2c41t6
— Deseret News (@DeseretNews) June 19, 2015
To read Walch's article, titled “LDS environmental stewardship statement, recent talk share similarities with Pope Francis’ encyclical," visit the Deseret News website.