Vatican City, Jun 18, 2015 / 04:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis' new encyclical on the environment calls for men and women to acknowledge their bodies as a gift from God which should not be manipulated.

“The acceptance of our bodies as God's gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home,” the Pope wrote, “whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation.”