Catholic bishops from five continents issued a challenge to U.N. delegates who will meet in Paris in December to discuss the international framework on climate change, calling for “a just and legally binding climate agreement” to emerge from the negotiations. The bishops and cardinals issued a 10-point policy proposal “linking climate change to social injustice and the social exclusion of the poorest and most vulnerable of our citizens.” They urged leaders to be courageous and creative but insisted on “enforceable agreements.” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, signed the appeal on Oct. 26 at the beginning of a joint news conference at the Vatican. The appeal, Cardinal Gracias said, was a response to Pope Francis’ letter on the environment and an expression of “the anxiety of all the people, all the churches all over the world” regarding how, “unless we are careful and prudent, we are heading for disaster.”

This article appears in November 16 2015.