A leaked US State Department cable on WikiLeaks shows that its Vatican Embassy sees Catholic statements on the environment in terms of population control policy, reports the Catholic News Agency.

The November 2009 cable, titled "Pope Turns up the Heat on Environmental Protection," was apparently signed by US Ambassador to the Holy See's Miguel H. Diaz.

It explained that Pope Benedict XVI's proposal to curb environmental degradation is to reject "excessive materialism and consumerism".

"In the Vatican's view," the cable's author wrote, "unsustainable lifestyles in developed countries - and not population growth worldwide - is to blame for global warming. Vatican officials claim that the planet has the capacity to feed and sustain its expanding population, provided resources are properly distributed and waste controlled."

The cable noted Vatican officials' past claims that the world's most populous countries were not the ones that released the most greenhouse gas.

"As China and India industrialize and release more greenhouse gases, however, the Vatican may find it more difficult to blame climate change on lifestyles only. Even as this happens, however, the Vatican will continue to oppose aggressive population control measures to fight hunger or global warming."

FULL STORY

Leaked cable notes Church's opposition to 'aggressive' population control (Catholic News Agency)

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