On April 1, 2016, thirty Catholic institutions and ten other faith-based organizations filed an amicus curiae in support of the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The Clean Power Plan is the EPA’s proposed restriction on carbon pollution that has been stayed by the US Supreme Court in response to legal challenges by industry and Republican attorneys… Read More Catholic Support for the Clean Power Plan
Last month, NPR (National Public Radio) held a workshop for energy and environment reporters in Chicago. I was invited to be on a panel titled “The Environment as a Moral Question” and outline Catholic teaching on ecology and climate change. Here are some excerpts of my address: Catholic Social Teaching In order to frame my… Read More Why Pope Francis and the Church Treat Climate Change as a Moral Issue
In 1979, David Hollenbach, S.J. advocated for Catholic public theology that “attempts to illuminate the urgent moral questions of our time through explicit use of the great symbols and doctrines of the Christian faith.” Since then, American Catholic public theologians have, as Gonzalo Villagrán, S.J. describes, worked to accessibly bring Catholic teaching to the public… Read More Vatican Climate Change Conference: Catholic Public Theology Takes Center Stage
Over the past several weeks, Pope Francis has made explicit reference to the challenge of climate change with respect to nutrition, migration and the United Nations international treaty negotiations. Given that Francis’ ecological encyclical is expected to be published in the next several months, these remarks make it seem increasingly likely that the pope will… Read More Preparing for the Storm: Anticipating and Countering the Likely Attacks on Pope Francis and His Environmental Encyclical
On July 16, 2014, Australia lapsed into a relative state of climatic irresponsibility when it repealed the national carbon tax that had been in place since 2012. Although this may seem like an amoral intranational policy decision, traditional categories of Catholic moral theology can help demonstrate that Australia’s carbon tax repeal is actually a morally… Read More Complicit Down Under: America’s Moral Responsibility for Australia’s Carbon Tax Repeal
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited draft of carbon pollution standards for existing fossil fuel power plants, known as the Clean Power Plan. Americans now have 120 days to offer public comments on the rules, and U.S. Catholics are encouraged to do so using the ethical principles articulated by the U.S.… Read More Catholics against Climate Change: Faithful Advocates for the EPA’s Clean Power Plan
One of the most familiar theological notions to millennial Catholics is likely that “the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel” (Gaudium et Spes, 4). Although there are numerous examples of how the Church continues to do this, one… Read More Scientists and the Vatican Agree: Climate Change is Real, Must be Addressed
Millennial 