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Reporting on science, technology and innovation in Arizona and the Southwest through a collaboration from Arizona NPR member stations. This project is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.Additional stories from the Arizona Science Desk are posted at our collaborating station, KJZZ: http://kjzz.org/science

Tucson Bishop Shares Climate Change Message From Pope

Amanda Solliday - KAWC

As the United Nations conference in Paris continues, many are focused on climate change. This includes the Catholic Church.

Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson spoke in Yuma Dec. 6 about Pope Francis’s encyclical, or letter to the church entitled “Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home.”

Bishop Kicanas said the pope wrote his first encyclical in anticipation of the U.N. climate change summit.

“I think his hope was that there in Paris, as nations of the world come together and leaders from all around the world, that they will look at how we can act more ecologically responsibly,” Bishop Kicanas said. “And to make sure that the effects of environmental change, which harm in many ways the poor, are addressed in ways that are responsible.”

The 184-page letter released in June is the pope’s call for environmental action. He says the words are meant for every living person, not members of a particular church.

Bishop Kicanas will give a total of four presentations throughout the 43,000 square-mile Diocese of Tucson. Yuma is the third stop, following Tucson and Green Valley. His final talk will be in Casa Grande.