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Jun 1, 2017

Bishop Stephen Blaire: On faith rising above politics

Speaking hours before President Trump announced a withdrawal of the Paris Climate Accord, Bishop Blaire reflected on the Church’s role in climate, eco issues

As the world waited Thursday morning for President Donald Trump to make his big announcement about the Paris Climate Accord, I had the pleasure of spending time with The Most Rev­erend Stephen E. Blaire, the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Stockton, California. It was a providential time to speak of the Church’s eco teachings, and how faith and politics must work together to address the great crises of our age—especially environmental ones.

This was Bishop Blaire's first visit to Rhode Island. He came to give the keynote address at the College Theology Society's annual conference, which is being held this week at Salve Regina College in Newport—a coastal community already being impacted by rising seas and more common flooding.

Given the events of the past days, I asked him about his thoughts on how the Church might respond if (as he did), President Trump pulls out of Paris.

“We’re going to have to be very forthright in whatever happens today,” Bishop Blaire said. “We’re going to have to reaffirm our values” related to caring for the Earth. “We’re going to have to respond, to demand political action—but we have to rise above politics,” he added.

Bishop Blaire...

Jun 1, 2017

US Bishops to President Trump: Honor the Paris Agreement

Statement issued today in anticipation of the president's stated announcement

With President Donald J. Trump tweeting that he will announce today his decision on the United States' commitment to the Paris agreement on climate change, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following announcement this morning:

In recent weeks, the United States Conference of Bishops (USCCB) and the president of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) have urged administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, to support U.S. international leadership on climate change.

Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, has issued the following statement to emphasize the importance of honoring the Paris Agreement in order to "mitigate the worst impacts of climate change" on our planet.

Bishop Cantú's full statement follows:

"The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is on record supporting prudent action to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Our Conference of Bishops has vigorously promoted the teaching of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, on care for our common home. The Holy Father's encyclical letter, Laudato si', was timed in order to urge the nations of the world to

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May 30, 2017

The pope and the president

A reminder of what the church offers the state, and the world

Last week’s meeting between Donald Trump and Pope Francis was seen by many as a final chance to impress upon the president the urgency of supporting the 2015 Paris Climate Accord—the historic international agreement to lower emissions of carbon dioxide, among other goals. The president has promised to pull out of the deal. The pope wants the US to remain in it.

The way many in the mainstream media were characterizing the meeting, you’d think this was the first time a pope and a president met among disagreement. But it was only three years ago when President Barack Obama made a similar visit to the papal offices—a visit that highlighted grave differences between that administration and Catholic teachings.

After that 2014 trip, the official Vatican statement politely noted that "there was a discussion on questions of particular relevance for the church... such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life, and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform."

Similarly, after the president’s meeting with Rome’s chief diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson politely said that there was “a good exchange” on “the difficulty of addressing climate change, responses to climate...

May 16, 2017

Learning from the Left

Overcoming division helps everyone build their better world

Here’s a question I don’t often hear from my conservative friends: what can we learn from the left?

In an attempt to bring folks together, I posted earlier on ways for the left to work better with the right. Here I want to help the right better understand their brothers and sisters on the left—especially since growing ideological divides are inhibiting Catholic eco-activity. In the process, I'll be offering critiques of both the hard left and hard right. I do so in the spirit of fraternal correction, and, I admit, as my own means to sort through the mess we've found ourselves in.

But first, a few starting points:

I received comments on my post Conversations with Conservatives that I’m using terms that aren’t always precise—left, right, conservative, liberal, etc. That’s true. But for all their limits, we know generally what these conventions mean, and what they don’t, and we can all agree that there’s more to the words and the concepts behind them.

Second, just a few days after my posting, Politico published Matthew Hutson’s stellar piece Why Liberals Aren’t as Tolerant as They Think. Its title is certainly one-sided, but Hutson offers...

May 12, 2017

"Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners"

100 years after Mary's appearance in Fatima, Portugal, her warnings cry out to a world in need of salvation

"Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the conversion of sinners?"

Mary's words to three Portuguese children on May 13th, 1917—and all that she said throughout that summer, and the miraculous events that followed—are being remembered this year, and especially this weekend, at a time in human history when darkness closes ever tighter around us.

There can be no misunderstanding this truth: the ecological harms we suffer are rooted in the sin and error that brought Mary to us with her warnings and her hope.

This, then, is a time for Catholics to embrace the words of the Immaculate One. It is a time to pick up our Rosaries and fall to our knees as we go about our political and scientific endeavors to save the world.

Because without the grace of God, we cannot win the battles that loom ahead.

And so, as I did in January, I urge that we all consecrate our eco-activities to the Blessed Mother.

I urge that we ponder the world's corruption through the eyes of Our Lady, and with her trust...

May 10, 2017

Catholic groups say ‘no’ to fossil fuel investments

Ahead of secular international gatherings, nine Catholics groups announce the largest joint Catholic divestment to date from fossil fuels

Nine Catholic organizations from around the world today declared their intent to divest their investment portfolios from coal, oil and gas companies. According to the Global Catholic Climate Movement, this is the largest joint Catholic fossil fuel divestment to date.

The groups—including religious orders and dioceses from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Italy—made the announcement ahead of international negotiations this month on implementing measures in the Paris Agreement on climate change. The announcement also comes in preparation for the two-year anniversary of Pope Francis’s eco-encyclical Laudato Si’.

Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are the chief contributors of the greenhouse gas emissions, which are stressing the world’s poorest communities as emissions alter planetary levels of thermal energy and moisture. According to data published jointly the USA-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), global temperatures in 2016 were the hottest year since records began, as were the two previous years.

The coordinated announcement to divest from fossil fuels comes as Rome continues to encourage unified global action on eco issues—as evidenced by a January conference at the Pontifical Lateran University sponsored by Catholic...

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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.