On his way to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto made a quick pit stop in downtown Toronto Monday evening to preview a “challenge” he will be presenting to world leaders ahead of the G7 summit being held in Kananaskis, Alta.

Organized by Development and Peace - Caritas Canada, Barreto delivered a speech he prepared for world leaders attending the G7 summit — taking place June 15-17 — to a group of politically involved Catholics at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. The bilingual event featured original remarks in Spanish by Barreto followed by English translations from Development and Peace's Mary Durran.

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 People’s Forum, a high-profile event organized as part of KAIROS Canada’s year-long Jubilee 2025 “Turn Debt into Hope” initiative, will provide an opportunity to discuss global challenges ahead of the conference, offering world leaders tangible action items to discuss at the G7 summit.

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Barreto, the Archbishop Emeritus of Huncayo, Peru, hopes to inspire change in a time of transformation.

“Today we are living in a severe socio-environmental crisis that disconcerts and discourages us. We see no immediate solutions. We are paralysed 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.”

Barreto described the present time as a “kairos” which indicates a moment for transformation of the individual and society. He noted that in the Christian tradition, kairos describes “moments of grace” to learn from history and seek a prosperous future for generations to come in line with the common good.

“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, recognizing our brightnesses and our dark spots, our joys and sorrows, our anguish and hopes as humanity,” said Barreto.

In his unique experience serving impoverished communities in Peru and promoting ecological rights, an experience he shares with Pope Leo XIV with whom he served in Peru, the Cardinal has a vested mission in effecting environmental and social justice across Latin America but especially in Amazonian regions home to large Indigenous populations. In his exhortation, Barreto said he will call on leaders in the global North to reduce demand for products linked to deforestation in the Amazon, fund initiatives aimed at financing the conservation and restoration of the Amazon and respect the rights and cultures of aboriginal groups.

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“Restoring and caring for the Amazon and its peoples is a sign of hope for all humanity,” said Barreto, who played a major role in the 2019 Pan-Amazonian Synod.

The Amazon region is purported to have a significant impact on regulating global climate as it absorbs an estimated 460 million tonnes of CO2 per year from the environment. Barreto sees danger to this region as a serious threat for the world in its entirety. He believes that leaders in developed nations owe an “ecological debt” to countries in the global South to mitigate the effects of climate warming.

“From a statistical point of view, we can speak of great inequalities. 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,” said Barreto, a member of the Society of Jesus.

Despite this climate of socio-ecological uncertainty and injustice, the Catholic Church serves an important purpose.

“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,” said Barreto in an exclusive interview with The Catholic Register. “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 and that we are good administrators of the gifts that He has given us in creation.”

The Church’s role in the modern world parallels the experience Jesus underwent on Earth, the Jesuit noted. The Church needs to continue to spread the message of peace and unity despite secular closure to the Gospel.

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“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. We are returning to the same thing that happened to Jesus. He wanted to bring people together, first with the apostles. But, on the one hand, He was sold for money. On the other hand, His apostles left Him alone in His suffering, so afraid when He died on the Cross,” said Barreto.

During the evening, petitions calling for the cancellation of debts of poorer nations were distributed. The goal is to collect 100,000 signatures by 2026. As of June 9, 29,280 signatures were collected. The contents of the petition will be taken to the G7 leaders in Alberta.