An Italian magazine published Pope Francis’ first draft of his encyclical on climate change four days before it was supposed to be released.
L’Espresso posted the192-page encyclical in Italian, a move that an official from the Vatican described as “heinous.” A Vatican spokesman said news organizations should refrain from reporting on the draft until the final document is made public later this week.
“You are invited to respect the journalistic honesty that requests you wait for the official publication of the final text,” Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
According to Crux, the early draft says there is “a very consistent scientific consensus indicating we’re in the presence of an alarming warming of the climatic system.”
The draft also calls for people to try to “combat this warning, or, at least, the human causes that produce and exacerbate it,” Crux reported. This version of the encyclical also describes climate change as “one of the principal challenges now facing humanity.”
“The urgent challenge of protecting our common home includes the importance of uniting all the human family in search of a sustainable and integral form of development, because we know that things can change,” the document reads, according to Crux.
The document does not support the idea that overpopulation is a key problem in environmental issues. It said that, “It’s enough to look at reality with sincerity to see that there’s a great deterioration in our common home,” according to Crux.
The National Catholic Reporter said the final draft is scheduled to be released Thursday at noon.
