American Catholics Call for Climate Action after Pope Francis Encourages Change

Several other speakers at the Georgetown event held up Lavigne’s work as an example. Combatting industrial emissions is one way to preserve the “sacredness” of human lives, as is “building bridges” to gain support from other community groups, said Jose Aguto, executive director of Catholic Climate Covenant.

“We as Catholics need to be stepping into that kind of advocacy because it is an integral part of our faith,” he said.

Christiana Zenner, who teaches theology at Fordham University in New York, is writing a book about Pope Francis encouraging Catholics to become more active in the global fight against climate change.

Pope Francis, she said, appears “heartbroken” over the continuing escalation of climate change and the emissions that cause it. Her book will focus on the Pope’s original 2015 encyclical, called “Laudato Si’,” and the recent update.

“What should we do in the face of this?” she asked. “Sometimes that requires saying no.”

John Mundell, director of the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform, echoed the calls for action.

“I think he is calling us to act, to walk the walk, not just talk the talk,” said Mundell, who also runs an environmental consulting firm. “We have a greater moral voice than what we are doing and saying.”

About 51 million adult Catholics live in the U.S., making the Catholic Church the largest single religious institution in the country, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2021, Pew found that most Americans had a favorable view of Pope Francis, including 82 percent of Catholics.

This month, the Vatican began what it calls the “Synod of Synodality,” a long-planned series of discussions and studies in which Catholic bishops and some Catholic laypeople discuss how the church handles sensitive issues.

The issues discussed range from whether priests can marry to the morality of death penalties. But whether the church will delve into its growing support for climate action is among many of the unknowns: the discussions, so far, have not been made public.

Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2023. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.