An early draft of Pope Francis’ upcoming encyclical address—officially due out later this week—has been leaked, and in it, the pontiff takes a stand against climate change. Papal encyclicals are important written statements and teachings that typically discuss faith and modern issues. The Vatican has made clear it is not the final draft, and that the leak was an act of “sabotage against the pope,” meant to undermine is upcoming visit to the United States and address at the U.N. (We will report and post more details of the encyclical following its official release.)
Further details of the final version of the encyclical will be formally published by the Vatican on Thursday morning, but according to the reports, the encyclical will echo statements he’s previously made about climate change: That it is partly man-made, it harms the world’s poorest communities and something must be done to stop it. The U.N. top climate change official told USA Today, “We expect the papal encyclical to have a major impact during a very critical year in this (climate negotiation) process” …
