TWO Thornbury church-goers have added their voice to a call from the Pope to protect the environment and tackle climate change.

Pope Francis, earlier this month, released an Encyclical – a letter to people worldwide – calling on everyone to take better care of the environment and the planet.

Mark and Jean Wallis from Christ the King parish joined about 10,000 fellow campaigners from across the UK in Westminster on Wednesday, June 17 to join the Speak Up For The Love Of… lobby of MPs.

They met with Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall inside parliament.

Mark said: “Our new MPs need to understand how strongly we feel about this issue and please, for the sake of the planet and future generations make sure that they listen to us and take our message to other politicians and to the world climate change meeting in Paris in December.

“Luke Hall was very receptive to our views and promised to speak to prime minister David Cameron and energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd so we’re pleased.”

The lobby came after people in every constituency across the region wrote to candidates standing for parliament in the general election asking them to make the changing climate a priority.

David Brinn, manager for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) in Bristol, said:

“We’re delighted that CAFOD supporters like Mark and Jean and the many others across Bristol and the West Country are responding to Pope Francis’s call to action.

“Climate change is the single biggest threat to reducing poverty. It’s already hitting communities CAFOD works with in some of the poorest countries in the world.

“It’s also affecting us here in the UK, whether through our favourite foods becoming more expensive or through the increased risk of flooding to houses in some areas.

“The fact is that world leaders have real opportunities in the coming months and years to agree to cut the use of polluting fossil fuels.”

The Encyclical, Laudato Si – On the care of our common home, states that action by everyone is necessary in order to prevent environmental damage such as climate change impacting upon the poorest and most vulnerable people.