[Vision2020] 6-18-15 NY Times: "Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate Change"

[Ted Moffett]

Maybe there are no Catholics on the Vision2020 subscriber list... I was
surprised that, as far as I saw, there were no posts on this recent Papal
Encyclical on climate change, a.k.a. anthropogenic global warming,  well,
till this one...
*Political reaction has been disturbing, such as Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum,
and Marco Rubio's comments mentioned at website just below:*

*http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/17/jeb-bush-pope-climate-change_n_7603160.html
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/17/jeb-bush-pope-climate-change_n_7603160.html>*

*However. given the nearly universal opposition to taking AGW as a serious
problem among Republicans, I suppose this is no surprise.*

*What I found truly alarming was the recent "Religion and Ethics
Newsweekly" show on PBS, which prominently gave exposure to the unethical
and scientifically fraudulent views of Marc Morano of Climate Depot, and
the junk science promoting Heartland Institute:*
*http://www.climatedepot.com/ <http://www.climatedepot.com/>*
*https://www.heartland.org/ <https://www.heartland.org/>*

*To anyone seriously studying climate science, it is well known those
involved in these websites or **organizations*
*are misleading the public regarding the exhaustively documented scientific
basis for AGW as a serious problem.*

*To discover this misleading pseudo-science aimed at dismissing the gravity
of the AGW problem presented as though it deserves serious consideration by
the public on a show titled "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly," is bizarre
and ironic beyond words!*
----------------------------
Pope Francis, in Sweeping Encyclical, Calls for Swift Action on Climate
Change
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/world/europe/pope-francis-in-sweeping-encyclical-calls-for-swift-action-on-climate-change.html?_r=0

By JIM YARDLEY
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/y/jim_yardley/index.html>
and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/laurie_goodstein/index.html>JUNE
18, 2015

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/francis_i/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and
individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate
change
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,
blending a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development
with a plea for swift and unified global action.

The vision that Francis outlined in a 184-page papal encyclical is sweeping
in ambition and scope: He describes relentless exploitation and destruction
of the environment and says apathy, the reckless pursuit of profits,
excessive faith in technology and political shortsightedness are to blame.

The most vulnerable victims, he declares, are the world’s poorest people,
who are being dislocated and disregarded.

Francis, the first pope from the developing world, used the encyclical —
titled “Laudato Si’,” or “Praise Be to You” — to highlight the crisis posed
by climate change
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>.
He places most of the blame on fossil fuels and human activity, while
warning of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious
consequence for all of us” if corrective action is not taken swiftly.
Developed, industrialized countries were mostly responsible, he says, and
are obligated to help poorer nations confront the crisis.

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental,
social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods,” he writes.
“It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”

The Vatican
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
released the encyclical at noon on Thursday, three days after an Italian
magazine posted a leaked draft online, to the fury of Vatican
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
officials. The breach led to speculation that opponents of Francis in the
Vatican wanted to embarrass him by undermining the release.

Even so, religious figures, environmentalists, scientists, executives and
elected officials around the world awaited the official release, and
scheduled news conferences or issued statements afterward. News media
interest was enormous, in part because of Francis’ global popularity, but
also because of the intriguing coalition he is proposing between faith and
science.
“Humanity is faced with a crucial challenge that requires the development
of adequate policies, which, moreover, are currently being discussed on the
global agenda,” Cardinal Peter Turkson said at a news conference at the
Vatican. “Certainly, ‘Laudato Si’ ’ can and must have an impact on
important and urgent decisions to be made in this area.”

Francis has made it clear that he hopes the encyclical will influence
energy and economic policy and stir a global movement. He calls on ordinary
people to press politicians for change. Catholic bishops and priests around
the world are expected to discuss the encyclical in services on Sunday. But
Francis is also reaching for a wider audience, asking in the document “to
address every person living on this planet.”

Even before the encyclical, the pope’s stance against environmental
destruction and his demand for global action had already thrilled many
scientists. Advocates of policies to combat climate change have said they
hoped that Francis could lend a “moral dimension” to the deb

“Within the scientific community, there is almost a code of honor that you
will never transgress the red line between pure analysis and moral issues,”
said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder and chairman of the Potsdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But we are now in a situation where
we have to think about the consequences of our insight for society.”

Francis has been sharply criticized by those who question or deny the
established science of human-caused climate change, and also by some
conservative Roman Catholics, who see the encyclical as an attack on
capitalism and as political meddling.

Governments are now developing domestic climate-change plans to prepare for
a United Nations
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_nations/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
summit meeting on the issue in Paris in December. The meeting’s goal is to
achieve a sweeping accord in which every nation would commit to new
policies to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Many governments have yet to
present plans, including major emitters like Brazil, which has a large
Catholic population. The encyclical is seen as an unsubtle nudge for action.

“It gives a lot of cover to political and economic leaders in those
countries, as they make decisions on climate change policy,” said Timothy
Wirth, vice chairman of the United Nations Foundation.

Catholic theologians say the overarching theme of the encyclical is
“integral ecology,” which links care for the environment with a notion
already well developed in Catholic teaching: that economic development, to
be morally good and just, must take into account people’s need for things
like freedom, education and meaningful work.

“The basic idea is, in order to love God, you have to love your fellow
human beings, and you have to love and care for the rest of creation,” said
Vincent Miller, who holds a chair in Catholic theology and culture at the
University of Dayton, a Catholic college in Ohio. “It gives Francis a very
traditional basis to argue for the inclusion of environmental concern at
the center of Christ

He added: “Critics will say the church can’t teach policy, the church can’t
teach politics. And Francis is saying, ‘No, these things are at the core of
the church’s teaching.’ ”

Francis tapped a wide variety of sources in his encyclical, partly to
underscore the universality of his message. He cites passages from his two
papal predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and draws prominently
from a religious ally, Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, leader of
the Eastern Orthodox Church. He also cites a ninth-century Sufi mystic, Ali
al-Khawas.

The pope begins the encyclical with a hymn by St. Francis of Assisi, the
patron saint of animals and the environment. He used the Book of Genesis to
underpin his theological argument. But in a passage certain to rankle some
Christians, he chastises those who cite Genesis as evidence that man has
“dominion” over the earth that justifies practices like mountaintop mining
or fishing with gill nets.

“This is not a correct interpretation of the Bible as understood by the
Church,” Francis writes. The Bible teaches human beings to “till and keep”
the garden of the world, he says. “ ‘Tilling’ refers to cultivating,
plowing or working, while ‘keeping’ means caring, protecting, overseeing
and preserving.”

His most stinging rebuke is a broad critique of profit-seeking and the
undue influence of technology on society. He praises achievements in
medicine, science and engineering, but says that “our immense technological
development has not been accompanied by a development in human
responsibility, values and conscience.”

Central to Francis’ theme is the link between poverty and the planet’s
fragility. The pope rejects the belief that technology and “current
economics” will solve environmental problems, or “that the problems of
global hunger and poverty will be resolved simply by market growth.”

“A huge indictment I see in this encyclical is that people have lost their
sense of ultimate and proper goals of technology and economics,” said
Christiana Z. Peppard, an assistant professor of theology, science and
ethics at Fordham University in New York. “We are focused on short-term,
consumerist patterns."

Encyclicals are letters to the clergy and laity of the church that are
considered authoritative. Catholics are expected to try to sincerely
embrace their teachings. But more specific assertions in them can be
categorized as “prudential judgments,” a phrase that some critics have
invoked to reject Francis’ positions on issues like climate change or
economic inequality.

Many conservatives will be pleased with the encyclical’s strong criticism
of abortion, and its dismissal of arguments that population control can be
an answer to poverty. However, Francis sharply criticizes the trading of
carbon credits — a market-based system central to the European Union’s
climate policy — and says it “may simply become a ploy which permits
maintaining the excessive consumption of some countries and sectors.”

Above all, Francis frames the encyclical as a call to action. He praises
young people for being ready for change, and said “enforceable
international agreements are urgently needed.” He cites Benedict in saying
that advanced societies “must be prepared to encourage more sober
lifestyles, while reducing their energy consumption and improving its
efficiency.”

“All is not lost,” he writes. “Human beings, while capable of the worst,
are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good,
and making a new start.”

----------------------------------

Jim Yardley reported from Vatican City, and Laurie Goodstein from New York.
Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting from Rome, Coral Davenport from
Washington, and Justin Gillis from New York.

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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