Archbishop Nelson Perez of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia reminded the faithful on Earth Day that humans have an obligation to take care of the planet to the best of their ability.

"As Catholics, this moment on the calendar is an important reminder that as beneficiaries of God's creation, we have a duty to protect the environment and its impact on humanity, especially the poor and vulnerable who are sadly and frequently overlooked," he said in a recent Facebook post. 

Caring for God's Creation is one of the seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in a report on its website. Mankind has a responsibility to be stewards of the earth, caring for the planet and the people who inhabit it. Additional, today's environmental challenges include moral and ethical facets. 

The USCCB cited references to humanity's role in caring for the earth throughout the Bible, including Genesis, where God creates the Earth and instructs humans to care for it; Leviticus, which notes that the planet should not be abused; and other references in Daniel, Matthew and Romans, where the relationship between God and His Creation are highlighted. 

In 2015, Pope Francis issued his landmark encyclical Laudato Si ("Praise be to you, my Lord"), the archbishop's Facebook post said. That writing remains a universal call for every individual to understand and embrace personal responsibility for the welfare of the natural world that all people inhabit.

"The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change," the pope said is his encyclical. "The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home."

The pontiff expanded on that theme this year.

"We all need to make a contribution to halt the destruction of our common home and to restore nature: governments, businesses and citizens — we must act like brothers and sisters who share the Earth, the common home that God has given us," he tweeted on Earth Day recently. 

"In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, many parishes, schools and other institutions have begun to form creation care teams to put the Holy Father's words into action,"  Perez said in his Facebook post. "Many are affiliated with EcoPhilly, an initiative launched to establish a network of creation care teams throughout the five-county region that achieve measurable improvements in their local environment."