Pope Urges Drastic Cut in Fossil Fuels to Protect Climate

Pope Francis called for an urgent, drastic cut in fossil-fuel emissions in an appeal to pull “Mother Earth” out of a “spiral of self-destruction” that he blamed on rich nations and the structure of the global economy.

The spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics made his plea for the planet, and for the world’s poorest people, in a 181-page encyclical -- a letter to bishops and one of the major forms of papal writings -- titled “Laudato si’ (praised be) on care for our common home.”