December 10, 2009 at 6:31 pm

i’m Catholic. those of us in the Church are imperfect too, but our faith in Christ should lead us to undivided agreement with all humanity that the Earth should be correctly taken care of, including its inhabitants.

December 11, 2009 at 2:49 pm

In addition to having a wonderful first name, the author hits the nail on the head: as Catholics, we have commitments to care for Creation, the poor, and the common good. The Pope and the Bishops recognize that climate change compromises these Catholic commitments, and as faithful Catholics, we must be guided by their leadership (and not polarizing political pundits or vested secular interests). We must exercise the prudence espoused by the Bishops, and reconsider our ego-centric and consumptive lifestyles, the cost of which is often (usually?) externalized onto the environment and the poor. St. Francis would be proud of this initiative!

December 11, 2009 at 3:12 pm

God created the heavens and the earth and all things upon it; shouldn’t we behave as tho we appreciate it?

December 11, 2009 at 3:35 pm

Yes, we should!

December 11, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Climate change is natural, it cools and heats up. Man made global warming is erroneous for some scientists because they go off of fake data and a lie others because they want grant money. When I was child in the late 70′s the media latched onto global cooling and an Ice Age coming because of CO2. I remember studying climate… and Al Gore and his crew all lied about climate history. The sun is what manages our climate, CO2 does not have a greenhouse effect… In one year volcanoes release more CO2 and CFC’s than we can do in a thousand years at current rates. Catholics should have their faith in Christ, not governments trying to change something that man cannot… the climate.

December 11, 2009 at 10:23 pm

We have known since 1859 that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat. We also know that we started emitting carbon during the Industrial Revolution at unprecedented levels as we prolifically burned fossil fuel.

The Nobel Prize-winning, peer-reviewed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (450+ lead authors 800+ contributing authors 2500+ scientific expert reviewers 130 countries) whose findings were accepted by the USCCB and have been independently corroborated and/or endorsed by NASA, NOAA, EPA, US National Science Foundation, US National Academies of Science (National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, National Research Council) and ten other national academies of science (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK), have demonstrated that anthropogenic greenhouse gases spiked in the mid-19th century with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and its prolific fossil fuel burning (http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publicati
ons_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_report
.htm). For all of human history until about 200 years ago, our atmosphere contained 275 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Now, in just 150 years, we are 390 ppm, and climbing ~2ppm/year.

Given all of this, the Bishops’ statement about prudence is the most appropriate paradigm in which to move forward: what we know requires a response, and as Catholics we have a commitment to care for Creation, the poor, and the common good based on that knowledge.

December 12, 2009 at 10:43 am

I completely agree with Max. NASA has said that the Earth has been in a ‘COOLING’ state since 1991 and that the Earth’s Climate is controlled by the ‘Sun’, not by ‘Man’. This is nothing more than a ‘HOAX’ generated by Al Gore who will reap financial benefits if Cap’n Trade is passed. Also, one has to weigh the negative results that will happen if Cap’n Trade is passed. Businesses that utilize ‘COAL’ for ‘Electricity’ will suffer or go under. Homeowners will be paying approximately $1,400/yr. more in utility bills and with our ‘National Debt’ at around $12.2 Trillion, we basically ‘CANNOT’ afford Cap’n Trade. It will literally ‘DESTROY’ our Country. Also, farmers need ‘Fertilizer’ and most of the ‘Farms’ depend on ‘COAL’ for ‘Electricity’. This would raise the ‘COST’ of ‘Food’ and would decrease our ‘OUTPUT’. Many ‘POOR COUNTRIES’ depend on our ‘Farmers’ here in America for their ‘Food Supply’. Passing Cap’n Trade would not only destroy our ‘Country’, but many that depend on us. These so-called ‘Radical Environmentalists’ have carried things ‘TOO FAR’. They have ‘LIED’ about the ‘Polar Bear’ population in order to ‘STOP’ drilling in Alaska. The ‘Polar Bear’ is not ‘Endangered’. The ‘Organization’ running those ‘Ads’ on TV were basically ‘Scamming’ the American People for ‘Money’ in an attempt to promote their agenda (‘STOP’ drilling in Alaska). Look at what has happened in California. Many have ‘LOST’ their ‘Farms’ because of the drought and they were ‘NOT’ allowed to get ‘WATER’ from the nearby stream because of a so-called ‘Endangered’ fish. So what is the Government doing? They are suppling ‘FOOD’ and Compensation. If ‘Businesses’ go under and more ‘Farms’ are ‘LOST’, who is going to pick up the ‘BILL’? This is not the American way. Those ‘Farmers’ didn’t want to sell their ‘Farms’, they just wanted to have ‘Permission’ from the Government to allow them to harvest the water from the ‘Streams’, so they could plant their fields and work the land. A similar situation happened years ago in Oregon. Land was given to people who wished to come in and work the land. Then there was a drought or dry season and they too were not allowed by the Government to come in and harvest the water from the ‘Rivers’ because of another so-called ‘Endangered Fish’. They ended up losing everything that they had worked so hard for so many years. I say it’s time to put ‘HUMAN BEINGS’ first. These so-called ‘Endangered Fish’ could have more than likely, been ‘Relocated’ and then allowed to reproduce. We have the ‘Technology’ and it’s a shame that these people who work so hard, had to lose their ‘Farms’.

December 13, 2009 at 12:33 pm

For the climate advocacy of Caritas Internationalis (the worldwide coalition of Catholic charities):

http://www.caritas.org/activities/climate_change/SeekingAGlobalEthics.html

December 13, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Thanks for posting that, Ryan, and for learning about what our Church has done and said in light of this moral issue!