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Recent years have seen increased climate-related natural disasters. In the United States, an inland hurricane brought catastrophic flooding to the mountains of North Carolina. Ash from wildfires in Canada has clouded the air for hundreds of miles. And across the globe, extreme climate catastrophes have destroyed lives and communities. We’re seeing wildfires in Australia, crop loss in Brazil, landslides in Italy, and famine-inducing drought in East Africa. And that’s just the start of the list.
For some, climate disruptions happen on a level that looks apocalyptic, with lives lost and communities decimated. Others might experience the disruptions on a smaller scale. Maybe it’s a tomato crop lost to drought, or a new invasive insect disrupting an ecosystem. The signs are everywhere: something is amiss.But not everyone is convinced we need to do anything about it.
Care for the Earth is a fundamental part of Catholic moral and social teaching. And recent popes have spoken prophetically on environmental justice, with Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home) offering important developments in this area of doctrine. But some Catholics still think climate change is a hoax, or that it’s not connected with human activity. And many who accept climate science don’t connect it with their responsibility as people of faith, or are uncertain how it translates into how they’re meant to act in the world.
On this episode of Glad You Asked, the hosts talk to Lorna Gold about the church’s teachings on climate change, and how Catholics ought to respond. Gold is Executive Director of the Laudato Si’ Movement, and has also worked as executive director of FaithInvest, and the Policy and Advocacy Manager with the Irish Catholic Agency for International Development, Trócaire.
You can read more about this topic, and read some of Gold’s work, in these links.
- Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home)
- Laudate Deum (On the Climate Crisis)
- Why Does the Church Care About Global Climate Change?
- Climate Generation: Awakening to our Children’s Future, by Lorna Gold
- “Catholic Church and climate change: Why Catholics care about climate change,” by Anna Carolina Gutiérrez
- “‘Enough is enough,’ say Global South bishops in climate letter,” by Michael Wright
- “Who is bearing the brunt of climate change?” by Kevin Clarke
Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries USA, a congregation of Catholic priests and brothers who live and work with the most vulnerable among us. To learn more, visit claretians.org.
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