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A green Pope Francis asks world leaders to listen to ‘cry of the Earth’ — will release joint environmental plea with Orthodox patriarch

Pope Francis delivers his speech as he looks at a banner reading "I Care", during his appearance at an Earth Day event in Rome, Sunday, April 24, 2016. (Claudio Peri/ANSA via AP) ITALY OUT

Vatican City • Pope Francis is urging world leaders to “listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” and take measures to protect the environment.

Francis made the appeal Wednesday in announcing that he and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew I, would release a joint statement Friday on care for God’s creation.

In 2015, Francis designated Sept. 1 as the church’s day for prayer for the environment, framing care for the planet as a moral issue.

In his announcement Wednesday, Francis urged everyone to be respectful and responsible toward the environment: “We also appeal to those who have influential roles to listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer the most from ecological imbalance.”