Pope Francis could not attend the Cop28 meeting held in Dubai because of a pulmonary infection. Instead the Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin read his speech in the United Arab Emirates. In his remarks, the Pope called the destruction of the environment an offense against God and a sin, one that greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable in our midst and threatens to unleash a conflict between generations. Citing the war waging in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, roughly 1,300 miles from the summit, Francis bemoaned the many resources squandered on weaponry that destroys lives and devastates our common home. He repeated a proposal from his 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti that money spent on war be redirected to end hunger and for climate initiatives in poorer countries. Expressing hope that 2024 could mark a breakthrough, Francis ended his speech by recounting a story from his saint namesake from 800 years earlier. In 1224, Francis of Assisi, completely blind and in physical pain, composed his "Canticle of the Creatures" as a way to give praise to God for the creatures he could no longer see but knew that they were his brothers and sisters. He concluded by saying "I too, who bear the name Francis, with the heartfelt urgency of a prayer, want to leave you with this message: Let us leave behind our divisions and unite our forces! And with God's help, let us emerge from the dark night of wars and environmental devastation in order to turn our common future into the dawn of a new and radiant day."
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