Much to the consternation of performative fossil fueled faux “Christians”, the new American Pope, Leo XIV, is continuing the calls of his predecessor, Pope Francis, for attention to climate change, and its impact on the poorest of the poor, and nature itself.
His voice is an important one, and for a billion or so people around the world, maybe the only one who can cut through the noise on climate messaging.
A recovering Catholic schoolboy myself, I fear if I went to communion at this point, I might burst into flame. But I do remember that “Catholic” means Universal, and the best traditions of the Church have long included a strong intellectual stream. The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest and most revered scientific institutions of the world.
Those who hoped that Pope Leo XIV would back away from Pope Francis ‘ concerns about global warming and the environment were severely disappointed last week. Instead, Leo firmly embraced the environmental agenda Francis laid out in Laudato Si’, his historic encyclical that put the church firmly on the side of protecting the planet.
Pope Leo did this at Castel Gandolfo in an address Wednesday (Oct. 1) to over 1,000 participants in the Raising Hope Conference on the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’. At the conference, religious leaders, scientists and activists prayed and discussed the role of religion in climate justice.
While a change of administrations in Washington has led the government to abandon efforts to deal with global warming, a change of papacies has shown the church will stay the course in defending God’s creation from wanton destruction.
In his Sept. 23 harangue to the United Nations, President Donald Trump said that in his opinion, global warming is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” He urged nations to embrace oil and gas production.
Responding to Trump without naming him, Leo complained Wednesday that “Some have chosen to deride the increasingly evident signs of climate change, to ridicule those who speak of global warming and even to blame the poor for the very thing that affects them the most.”
Unlike Trump, Leo acknowledges the reality of climate change and reaffirmed the church’s commitment to protect God’s creation. Those concerned about global warming will be relieved that Leo is not changing course but is fully committed to protecting the environment.
Pope Leo on Wednesday spoke before a slowly melting chunk of glacial ice in Vatican City in his first address on climate change. On a stage adorned with ferns and lush plants, Leo addressed a crowd of roughly 1,000 attendees representing Indigenous groups and environmental organizations across the world. The remarks were the strongest signal yet that the new pope intends to continue his predecessor’s legacy on climate issues, placing the Catholic Church squarely in the fight against global warming.
Leo called for citizens to pressure their governments into action on climate issues. “Citizens need to take an active role in political decision-making at national, regional and local levels,” Leo said. “Only then will it be possible to mitigate the damage done to the environment.”
We cannot love God, whom we cannot see, while despising his creatures. Nor can we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ without participating in his outlook on creation and his care for all that is fragile and wounded.
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We are one family, with one Father, who makes the sun to rise and sends rain on everyone (cf. Mt 5:45). We inhabit the same planet, and we must care for it together
I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.
