There’s a lot that you can say about the Catholic Church, much of which has already been said by hundreds of millions of people over the centuries. Even though the power of the church and the Pope has diminished over the years, His Holiness Pope Francis still holds sways over millions of people across the world. Whether that sway is a good or bad thing is a contentious point. And yet despite being the head of a more conservative institution, Pope Francis is taking aim at something considered a more liberal cause; climate change.
On Wednesday, the pontiff released a document entitled “Praise God.” It was cited as one of the least hopeful messages that Pope Francis has ever made. The person who stated that is Carlos Martinez who happens to be a climate scientist and a devout Catholic. He also heads a multi-faith committee for the American Meteorological Society. Effectively the tone of the message fits with the dire state of the environment.
Pope Francis took aim at a multitude of figures including world leaders and church figures who are climate change deniers. Or as the Pope put it himself, “It is no longer possible to doubt the human – ‘anthropic’ – origin of climate change.” The statement was also backed up with citations from U.N. climate reports and NASA. For the record, this is not the norm for statements like this, otherwise known as an encyclical. Though Pope Francis did issue a similarly encyclical back in 2015, the problem of climate change has only escalated since then.
The timing of this is also strategic as Dubai will host the U.N. climate talks on Nov. 30th. The hope is that by framing climate change in both scientific and ethical levels, it will somehow strike a chord in the hearts of leaders and climate change deniers the world over. The Pope even tries to debunk the idea that going for green technology will somehow cause job losses and is pushing for the elimination of fossil fuels.
Whether or not anyone will actually heed the Pope’s plea – God only knows. It didn’t help the first time, but at least the pontiff is trying it again. Climate change is a real issue and one would hope that those who profess to follow the Church’s teachings would take heed of this statement.
