I read an article saying Pope Francis will be issuing an encyclical this spring on climate change. He will be stating it is real and the Church and its followers must act on it on moral and scientific grounds. It will be delivered to 5000 bishops and 400,000 priests with instructions to deliver it to parishioners. At an October meeting he decried the religion of money and stated, "Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and deforestation are already showing their devastating effects in the great cataclysms we witness.”
Pretty definitive. Hopefully, this will help convince some of the religious right that there is no conflict between their religion and science, especially the science of climate change. Certainly, there will still be those that oppose it. There are those that feel science is anti-religion and nothing will change their minds. But, there are many who will see the Pope's edict and it will open their minds to the possibility that the scientists were right all along.
The Pope isn't the first person to try and change the minds of religious doubters. Notably, Katherine Hayhoe has been in the forefront on the issue. Why should any Christian fundamentalist care about what Hayhoe has to say on the subject? Well, she is a devout, evangelical Christian. She is also a climate scientist.
Oops! A devoutly religious person that also recognizes the validity of science and sees no conflict with her religious faith. How refreshing!
The fact is, caring for the environment and the people that will be suffering because of climate change is fundamental to all religions. Climate change is a right to life issue. If you are going to be opposed to something like abortions or the death sentence or animal rights, how can you not be opposed to climate change?
Apparently, the Pope thinks you can't.
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