EcoLinks 06.01.15
Religion & Liberty Online

EcoLinks 06.01.15

In the spirit of PowerLinks, we’ll be adding a regular roundup on news concerning Pope Francis’ forthcoming encyclical on the environment and, more broadly, religious witness on environmental stewardship outside the Roman Catholic Church. This may be a daily PowerBlog feature, or you may see it less frequently depending on the volume of news and commentary on the subject. If you haven’t got to it yet, make sure you watch Rev. Robert A. Sirico’s excellent commentary on the encyclical, which was posted on Friday. We welcome your comments and please feel free to add links we may have missed. We’re looking for a robust exchange. That means we don’t necessarily need to agree with your position. But please keep the conversation civil and refrain from personal attacks.

Pope’s environmental encyclical to be titled ‘Laudato Sii’ (Praised Be You)
Elise Harris, Catholic News Agency

Taken from St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun” prayer praising God for creation, the likely name of the Pope’s upcoming encyclical was informally announced just weeks before its anticipated publication.

The upcoming “environment” encyclical, “human ecology”, and the everlasting pains of Hell
Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, Fr. Z’s Blog

Some say that the Pope’s next encyclical – on the “environment” – will be called “Laudato sii“. Some say that that’s Latin. No. It isn’t. It’s the 13th Umbrian which St. Francis of Assisi would have known and in which he penned his Canticle of the Sun.

Report: Papal encyclical named after St. Francis prayer of praise
Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

“Laudato sii” is the introductory phrase to eight verses of St. Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer thanking God for the gifts of creation.

The Worst Climate Change Canard
Noah Rothman, Commentary

No climate catastrophist would earn his or her stripes without deploying the vituperative and insulting claim that those who remain skeptical of the doomsday scenarios are indulging in “denialism.”

Is The Catholic Church Drifting Into Eco-Spirituality?
Maureen Mullarkey, The Federalist

Nature is to be respected. But loved? Nature kills. We can love nature only to the degree of our control of it, our protection from it.

Bruce Edward Walker

has more than 30 years’ writing and editing experience in a variety of publishing areas, including reference books, newspapers, magazines, media relations and corporate speeches. Much of this material involved research on water rights, land use, alternative-technology vehicles and other environmental issues, but Walker has also written extensively on nonscientific subjects, having produced six titles in Wiley Publishing’s CliffsNotes series, including study guides for "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest." He has also authored more than 100 critical biographies of authors and musicians for Gale Research's Contemporary Literary Criticism and Contemporary Musicians reference-book series. He was managing editor of The Heartland Institute's InfoTech & Telecom News from 2010-2012. Prior to that, he was manager of communications for the Mackinac Center's Property Rights Network. He also served from 2006-2011 as editor of Michigan Science, a quarterly Mackinac Center publication. Walker has served as an adjunct professor of literature and academic writing at University of Detroit Mercy. For the past five years, he has authored a weekly column for the mid-Michigan Morning Sun newspaper. Walker holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Michigan State University. He is the father of two daughters and currently lives in Flint, Mich., with his wife Katherine.