The upcoming Synod of Bishops for the Amazon will challenge Canada regarding its own relationship with indigenous peoples and the environment.

On his first day in Madagascar, Pope Francis issued a strong call to the governmental authorities of this island of 27 million people to fight “with determination” against “endemic forms of corruption and speculation,” to “confront” the situations that “create conditions of inhumane poverty,” and to protect the environment against damage to nature and the people.

Pope Francis said that the forthcoming United Nations Climate Action Summit “is of particular importance.”

In May, Ireland became only the second country in the world to declare a “climate and biodiversity emergency.” But was it only a “greenwashing” move to distract climate activists from more oil and gas drilling?

People fainted on public transport in England. In Paris schools postponed exams, and the heat wave aggravated wildfires in Spain and Portugal. In Scandinavia it hastened Arctic melt.

Young people's intensified demand for climate action is a sign of hope during the planet's ecological crisis, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.