Home / Front Page

Mar 20, 2011

The ecology of Catholic music

Music has ecological lessons to teach—lessons about transcendence, unity, beauty, harmony, existence, glory, newness, and the unending promise of human life.

For this argument, I submit as Exhibit A this video ...

Mar 19, 2011

The road to beatifying a Catholic ecologist

With news of the upcoming beatification of John Paul II making the rounds (see here and here and here), let us remember his great work in helping spread the Gospel of Life into the realms of ecology.

Our friends at the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center have some helpful postings on John Paul II, of which I recommend this one.

For a brief reminder of what the His Holiness had said about ecology, read this snippet in Evangelium vitae:

Another welcome sign is the growing attention being paid to the quality of life and to ecology, especially in more developed societies, where people's expectations are no longer concentrated so much on problems of survival as on the search for an overall improvement of living conditions. Especially significant is the reawakening of an ethical reflection on issues affecting life. The emergence and ever more widespread development of bioethics is promoting more reflection and dialogue-between believers and non-believers, as well as between followers

...
Mar 17, 2011

A Cardinal challenges climate change

A Prince of the Church is being called “irrelevant” and “a fool” by those who are certain that climate change is a reality. Australia’s Cardinal George Pell is not impressed with the science of climate change, and, as reported below in the Sydney Morning Herald, he’s not shy about his opinion. The Cardinal raises some legitimate scientific questions, but in doing so he's committed heresy within certain circles.

The media, which loves such drama, has been stoking the fires. Bloggers are scathing in their analysis.

The tragedy in all this is that people—on all sides of the issue, within and outside of the Church—are missing an opportunity to explore the Church’s great tradition of placing faith and reason into dialogue. Certainly, some of the Cardinal’s critics are using the fracas to spit anti-Catholic venom, but then, from a survey of posted comments in online news stories, many critics of climate change within Holy Mother Church could benefit from a refresher course on civil discourse.

Well, read on and check out the links above...
Mar 14, 2011

Rome not okay with genetically modified food

A poster to this blog asked about the Church's opinion on genetically modified food. There was some confusion last December when the news media attributed to the Vatican a report endorsing genetically modified food when, in fact, the Vatican hadn't done that.

As always, the Catholic News Service unravels the story for us. I'll dig for more in the coming weeks, but if anyone has any more information on the matter, please send it along to [email protected], or add it to the comment section below.



Vatican has not endorsed genetically modified food, official says

By Carol Glatz


VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican did not endorse an 11-page final statement in favor of easing restrictions on and allowing more widespread use of genetically modified crops, especially in poorer nations, said a Vatican official.

...
Mar 12, 2011

A climate change challenger

Since this blog is in part an online presence of my column Catholic Ecology, it’s only right to also post letters to the editor that critique me, or the issues about which I write. The following was in response to my column on climate change and how we must carry our crosses. The letter ran in this week's Rhode Island Catholic under the title "science is about facts, evidence, not emotion."

There were several inadequacies in Mr. Patenaude's editorial (Catholic Ecology) last week. First, the methodologies used to support the claims about global warming are specious and speculative.

As a chemist, I'm always struggling to actually see the science. Were there really armies of scientists making hyper-accurate temperature readings at a global level in 1750? Are ice-core readings truly accurate to 0.01 degrees? Can such temperature readings really be gleaned from measuring tree-rings? Can NASA truly measure sea-level changes to 0.01 inches

...
Mar 10, 2011

The A, Bee, C's of food supply threats

If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot's inclination wishes. In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. From...

Pages

Subscribe to

If you like Catholic Ecology,
you’ll love…

A Printer's Choice

The sci-fi novel with a Catholic twist.

A Printer's Choice

Learn more

About the Blog

Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.