Posted on 01/15/2015 7:34:11 PM PST by ebb tide
As the United States Senate prepares to vote on a non-binding resolution on whether or not manmade global warming exists, Pope Francis weighed in on the issue with his most extensive and forceful comments on the subject to date.
Let's just say that the pope is not aligned with many Senate Republicans, who doubt the reality and threat of manmade global warming, on this issue.
Speaking to reporters aboard his plane while flying to Manila from Sri Lanka, Pope Francis said the "majority" of global warming is manmade, which is a view that is consistent with mainstream climate-science findings.
“I don’t know if it is all [man’s fault] but the majority is, for the most part, it is man who continuously slaps down nature,” he said, according to The Guardian.
His outspoken stance on climate change has encouraged debate within the Catholic community worldwide, as many people view the Earth as God's creation, and think it is arrogant to believe that humans could ever play such a dominant role over nature. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), an evangelical Christian, is one of the most prominent holders of this view.
“We have, in a sense, lorded it over nature, over Sister Earth, over Mother Earth,” the pope said, according to The Guardian.
“I think man has gone too far,” he added. “Thank God that today there are voices that are speaking out about this.”
The pope plans to issue an encyclical in June that will lay out his views on climate change and other environmental issues in greater detail, ahead of a crucial global warming summit in Paris scheduled for this December. An encyclical is an official Papal document that is sent to all Catholic bishops around the world.
The Paris talks are supposed to result in a new global climate agreement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that would enter into force in 2020.
The pope said he was "disappointed" by the most recent United Nations climate talks, which were held in Lima, Peru, last December. The talks proved particularly arduous, and had to be extended by two days, before diplomats agreed to a draft text to be negotiated in Paris.
“The Peru meeting was nothing much; it disappointed me. I think there was a lack of courage. They stopped at a certain point. Let’s hope the delegates in Paris will be more courageous and move forward with this,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, senators will have to go on record with their own views on climate science when they vote as early as Friday on a planned amendment that would force them to endorse or reject the existence of manmade global warming on climate change. At least two senators — one Democrat and one Independent who caucuses with the Democrats — plan to offer versions of amendments to that effect during debate on the Keystone XL Pipeline.
A similar vote took place in 2005, when a "Sense of the Senate" resolution was adopted. At that time, 12 Republicans joined Democrats to support the amendment, but there will likely be less Republican support this time, given the widespread rejection of global warming research findings among today's Republican leadership.
It does not offend me. I think this pope sucks.
Catholics that I know are mostly embarrassed by what this 'Pope' has said and done since he's been given some voice and a 'throne.'
I trust God that we will not destroy the Earth from under us, unless it's also part of His plan, because He has told us what the future holds and Jesus does not return to a lifeless ball...
I don't think you will offend too many Catholics. I think he has a good heart, but his world-view is obviously colored by his background - as it is for all of us. I'm far from having anything more than a cursory knowledge of the politics of Argentina, but socialism is no stranger to that country, and although Francis wrote against secularism and liberation theology, he also lived through the times of Peron, and unless he were entirely disengaged from the world around him his life would have to have been affected by the political climate in Argentina - and its reasonable to assume that this has probably influenced his views.
The concept / belief that the pope is chosen by the Cardinals, with the help of divine guidance, has not stopped the Church from having had some real doozies as popes over the ages. I don't know much about the backgrounds of most Cardinals, but their backgrounds and beliefs are clearly going to have an impact on who they vote for.
Anyway, we live in very interesting, and troubling times.
“They knew exactly what they were getting.”
Not sure this is ever true completely. I think they saw someone who understood Latin America, and who had been opposed to secularism and Marxism-asscociated liberation theology, but who was committed to fighting poverty and social injustice. He had also taken stances that were confirming of traditional Church teachings.
The blind leading the blind.
He would be better off doing what he does best,
doing medieval chants in a dead language.
The Vicar of Christ.
But he’s the vicar of Christ.
Zing!
I didn’t see anyone call Jesus a man. He/she said the Catholic Church is man made. Since Cain started the Catholic Church, that’s certainly true.
What about that Pope who was helping the Nazis?
No matter how many times it is explained, there are certain propositions that are absolutely unshakable in certain “brains”:
Catholics worship Mary.
Catholics believe Mary didn’t need a Savior.
Papal Infallibility means the Pope knows everything and can never sin.
Catholics believe the priest forgives their sins, so there is no need for Christ.
Catholics believe going to Mass earns them a place in heaven, so there is no need for Christ.
Catholics believe Jesus dies over and over again in the Mass.
My guess is the Pope has never read the Bible.
Two Deceptions in one sentence:
that we are having global warming
that it is manmade
Not a deep thinker or working for the other team?
I’m a faithful, daily-Mass-going Catholic, and I’m not offended in the least; it’s difficult to be intellectually honest and be offended by someone saying the unvarnished truth.
Please, God, let this man retire peacefully to an enclosed monastery, somewhere, complete with vow of silence...!
the pope is man made
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