From the heart of the Amazon, Cardinals, Bishops, religious orders and organisations from around the world united at COP30 to reaffirm their commitment to creation and to those suffering most from the climate crisis. This statement, comes from days of dialogue, prayer, and solidarity in Belém and invites all people of goodwill to continue the journey of ecological conversion.
Belém, Brazil
November 21, 2025
From November 10 to November 21, world leaders, negotiators, peoples’ movements, and more traveled to Belém, Brazil, for COP30 and the Peoples’ Summit. Among them is an unprecedented diversity of voices from our Church—lay people, religious sisters and brothers, cardinals, bishops, clergy, pastoral movements, youth organizations, NGOs, and many more—who have sought to amplify what Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’, called the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” Moved by what we have experienced through this COP, we offer this statement to all Catholics and people of good will to join us in a renewed commitment and action to care for our common home.
Ten years after the Paris Agreement and Pope Francis’s call to protect our common home, the world faces more extreme weather and environmental degradation. Hosting COP30 in Brazil, a country where the Church, Indigenous peoples, and social movements have long walked together in defense of life, further strengthened the hope felt throughout the Catholic community. Months before COP30, Catholics began expressing their hopes, concerns, and prayers related to this important conference. On June 12, the Catholic Bishops Conferences of Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean published a joint statement entitled A Call for Climate Justice and the Common Home, a powerful appeal for concrete and courageous action from those most affected by the climate crisis. Similarly, Catholic movements and organizations dialogued together, sharing perspectives and supporting one another.
Catholics arrived at COP30 to discover a spirit of true synodality, walking together, unified in God’s love for the poor and creation. Sharing our time in meals, conference panels, advocacy, the Peoples’ Summit, Masses, and a procession of the Virgem de Nazaré, we encountered a Church ready to speak up alongside people and the planet. We leave with renewed hope, empowered by the witness of the Church and the grace we have experienced together.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis, boldly grappling with the reality of climate change, called for an “ecological conversion.” Pope Leo XIV, in a message to those gathered for COP30, wished that “all the participants in this COP30, as well as those actively following its work, be inspired to embrace with courage this ecological conversion in thought and actions, bearing in mind the human face of the climate crisis.”
As we continue this journey of ecological conversion, we ask for the grace to care more tenderly for creation, to walk in deeper solidarity with one another, and to grow in the courage needed to respond faithfully to the urgent challenges of our time, which affect us all, but especially women, youth, migrants, Indigenous peoples, and the most marginalized. As Pope Leo has just reminded us: “We walk alongside scientists, leaders and pastors of every nation and creed. We are guardians of creation, not rivals for its spoils.”
List of signatories:
Cardinals and Bishops
H. Em. Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) • H. Em. Cardinal Jaime Spengler OFM, President of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) • H. Em. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu O.F.M. Cap., President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). • H. Em. Cardinal Ladislav NEMET, S.V.D, Vice President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) • H. Em. Cardinal Pablo Virgilio S. David, bishop of Kalookan, Philippines.
H.E. Júlio Endi Akamine, archbishop of Belém do Pará, Brazil • H.E. Paolo Andreolli, auxiliary bishop of Belém do Pará, Brazil • H.E. Benedito Araújo, bishop of Campo Maior, Brazil • Marcus Barbosa, advisor to the Ecumenism Commission, National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) • H.E. Juan Carlos Barreto Barreto, bishop of Soacha, Colombia • H.E. Vilsom Basso, bishop of Imperatriz, Brazil • Alberto Taveira Corrêa, archbishop emeritus of Belém do Pará, Brazil • H.E. Allwyn D’Silva, bishop of the Archdiocese of Bombay, India • H.E. Sílvio Guterres Dutra, bishop of Vacaria, Brazil • H.E. Vicente de Paula Ferreira, bishop of Livramento de Nossa Senhora, Brazil • Pedro Brito Guimarães, archbishop of Palmas, Brazil • H.E. Jon Hansen, CssR, bishop of the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, Canada • H.E. Nereudo Freire Henrique, auxiliary bishop of Recife, Brazil • H.E. Maurício da Silva Jardim, bishop of Rondonópolis-Guiratinga, Brazil • H.E. Archbishop Ryan Jimenez, Archbishop of Agaña, Guam, and President of CEPAC • H.E. Martin Laliberté, bishop of Trois-Rivières, Canada • H.E. José Valdeci Santos Mendes, bishop of Brejo, Brazil • H.E. Lucio Nicoletto, bishop of São Felix do Araguaia, Brazil • H.E. José Ionilton Lisboa de Oliveira, bishop prelate of Marajó, Brazil • H.E. Mário Antônio da Silva, bishop of Cuiabá, Brazil • H.E. Francisco Lima Soares, bishop of Carolina, Brazil • H.E. Teodoro Mendes Tavares, bishop of Ponta de Pedras, Brazil.
Organisations present at COP
More than 80 Catholic organisations from more than 30 different Countries*.
Organisations in solidarity and supporting the statement
More than 300 Catholic organisations from more than 40 different Countries*.
*full list in the PDF linked above.
Contacts:
Dean Dettloff, Research and Advocacy Officer – Development and Peace – Caritas Canada – ddettloff(at)devp.org
Giorgio Gotra, Operations & Communication Manager – CIDSE – gotra(at)cidse.org
Photo Credit: Catholic church joining the climate march during COP30, Laudato Si’ Movement [2025]