In his message for the sixth World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis also called for "the cancellation of the debt of the most vulnerable countries."

The “common thread” among the celebrations, especially in 2020, the cardinal said, “is our common home in which the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one cry.”

Bolivia’s bishops want environmental concerns to play a key role when voters go to the polls to elect a new government in October.

Evacuation orders have affected more than 250,000 Californians, including many Catholics in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of San Jose, Sacramento and Monterey.

Officials reported that at least 12 people had died as Tropical Storm Laura lashed Haiti and the Dominican Republic with strong winds and torrential rains, causing widespread flooding in low-lying communities.

The oil spill off the coast of Mauritius has renewed attention as to how environmental disasters affect ecological and economic life.