Jeb Bush on Pope Francis’s Calls to Fight Climate Change: “He’s Not a Scientist”
Tina Nguyen, Vanity Fair
Bush dismissed the Pope’s words. “Put aside Pope Francis on the subject of any political conversation,” he said, before turning the subject back on his true nemesis, Barack Obama. “I oppose the president’s policy as it relates to climate change because it will destroy the ability to re-industrialize the country, to allow for people to get higher wage jobs, for people to rise up.”
U.N. chief: Listen to Pope Francis on climate action
Ban Ki-moon, CNN
Pope Francis, in his recent encyclical, clearly articulated that climate change is a moral issue, and one of the principal challenges facing humanity. He rightly cited the solid scientific consensus showing significant warming of the climate system, with most global warming in recent decades mainly a result of human activity. And he has emphasized the critical need to support the poorest and most vulnerable members of our human family from a crisis they did least to cause, but from which they suffer most.
Pope Francis Gives Catholics Permission To Be More Vocal About What They Already Know To Be True
Jeremy Deaton, ClimateProgress
When it comes to global warming, Pope Francis is meeting American Catholics where they are. An analysis from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication conducted before the release of the pope’s encyclical found American Catholics are more likely than the general public to think climate change is happening. And, while fewer than half of non-Catholic Christians in the U.S. are worried about climate change, nearly two-thirds of American Catholics are concerned about the problem.American Catholics are also more likely to understand the scientific consensus around climate change and to support pro-climate policy than the American public at large. Hispanic Catholics are particularly likely to favor action to address climate change.
Abortion and death penalty come before climate change for church, Vatican official says
Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
As the pope moved on to New York for the second leg of his US tour, Cardinal Peter Turkson said personal issues of life and death still came first for the church, notwithstanding the Catholic leader’s efforts to get world leaders to fight climate change and poverty. The cardinal, who is a key adviser to the pope, also said the Vatican had no plans to rid itself of holdings in fossil fuels, and that the encyclical should by no means be seen as a call by the pope to divest from coal, oil or gas.
Pope Francis pushes US Congress on poverty and climate
Jeff Tollefson, Nature
Although the Pope repeatedly cited his own encyclical on climate change while calling for stronger environmental protections, Republican lawmakers point out with some satisfaction that he did not specifically mention the words “climate change” or “global warming” during the speech. Some conservatives criticize the Pope’s stance while questioning core tenets of climate science, including well-documented impacts such as sea-level rise and melting glaciers.
Four Questions for the Man Behind Pope Francis’s Environmental Encyclical
Zoe Schlanger, Newsweek
Behind this sweeping environment encyclical was Cardinal Peter Turkson, once thought to be a contender for the papacy. Turkson, from Ghana, is now a key adviser to the pope, and he led the creation of the encyclical’s first draft and coordinated the team that helped the pope craft the final draft. Newsweek spoke to Turkson just as Francis landed in New York City on September 24.
Bernie Sums Up Pope Francis’ Message in Very Simple Terms
Ring of Fire
Pope Francis is not just asking us to alleviate poverty and move toward a more equitable distribution of wealth and income. Nor is he simply requesting that we act boldly to combat climate change and save the planet. He is asking us to create a new form of society where the economy works for all, and not just the wealthy and the powerful. He is asking us to become a different kind of person, where our happiness and well-being comes from serving others and being part of the human community – not by spending our lives accumulating more and more wealth and power while oppressing others.
Is Pope Francis changing church teachings before our eyes?
David Gibson, Religion News Service
That encyclical was the first by a pope devoted to the environment and in particular climate change. But Francis had in fact picked up on themes and statements elaborated by St. John Paul II and to a greater extent those of his immediate predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was known as the “green pope” for his eco-friendly stances.
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