Cardinal Barreto previews G7 challenge in Toronto, urging action on climate, Amazon conservation, and social justice at People’s Forum. Calls for ecological debt repayment.
Newsroom, June 16, 2025, Gaudium Press – On his way to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto made a brief stop in downtown Toronto on Monday evening to preview a “challenge” he will present to world leaders ahead of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
Organized by Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, Barreto delivered a speech prepared for G7 leaders—set to convene June 15-17—to a group of politically engaged Catholics at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. The bilingual event featured Barreto’s remarks in Spanish, with English translations provided by Mary Durran of Development and Peace.
As a guest of honour at the People’s Forum in Calgary from June 12-15, Barreto focused on faith, climate change, and socio-environmental justice. The forum, part of KAIROS Canada’s Jubilee 2025 “Turn Debt into Hope” initiative, aims to discuss global challenges and provide actionable recommendations for G7 leaders.
Barreto, the Archbishop Emeritus of Huancayo, Peru, emphasized the need for transformation amid a global socio-environmental crisis. “Today we are living in a severe socio-environmental crisis that disconcerts and discourages us. We see no immediate solutions. We are paralyzed and powerless in the face of the multiple challenges we face as humanity,” he said. “However, something new is being born, a faint light is appearing at the end of the tunnel. We are living not in an era of change, but in a change of era.”
He described the current moment as a “kairos,” a Christian term for a transformative time of grace, urging society to learn from past mistakes and work toward a sustainable future. “This kairos urges us to correct past mistakes that have affected and continue to affect people and our ‘common home’, our mother earth, and urges us to step out of ourselves, out of our own personal and group interests, to unite hearts and minds,” Barreto said.
Drawing from his experience serving impoverished communities in Peru and advocating for ecological rights—alongside Pope Leo XIV in Peru—Barreto stressed the importance of environmental and social justice, particularly in the Amazon. He plans to urge G7 leaders to reduce demand for deforestation-linked products, fund Amazon conservation, and respect Indigenous rights and cultures. “Restoring and caring for the Amazon and its peoples is a sign of hope for all humanity,” said Barreto, a key figure in the 2019 Pan-Amazonian Synod.
The Amazon, which absorbs an estimated 460 million tonnes of CO2 annually, plays a critical role in regulating global climate. Barreto warned that threats to the region endanger the world and argued that developed nations owe an “ecological debt” to the global South to address climate impacts. “The more ‘developed’ societies cause, to a large extent, greenhouse gases. However, low-income communities and Indigenous populations are the most affected by extreme weather events,” he noted.
Barreto, a Jesuit, emphasized the Catholic Church’s role in addressing socio-ecological challenges. “Normally politicians don’t have eyes. As Jesus said, they have eyes but don’t see the suffering. They have ears but don’t listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of nature,” he told The Catholic Register in an exclusive interview. “The Church, following Jesus, needs to announce that God is the creator of Heaven and Earth. This means we have to look after the Earth to care for it and cultivate it.”
He likened the Church’s modern mission to Jesus’ experience, noting its duty to promote peace despite secular resistance. “This Pope, as Pope Francis and the ones before, have a moral obligation to talk to people and say no to violence and war. However, people hear but they don’t listen,” Barreto said.
During the event, petitions for debt cancellation for poorer nations were circulated, aiming for 100,000 signatures by 2026. As of June 9, 29,280 signatures had been collected, with plans to present the petition to G7 leaders in Alberta.
Raju Hasmukh with sources from:
– Development and Peace – Caritas Canada. (2025). Event details for Cardinal Barreto’s speech at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.
– KAIROS Canada. (2025). Jubilee 2025 “Turn Debt into Hope” initiative. Retrieved from [KAIROS Canada website].
– The Catholic Register. (2025). Exclusive interview with Cardinal Pedro Barreto.
– Pan-Amazonian Synod. (2019). Official documentation and outcomes.
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