Posted on 12/30/2014 5:11:40 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Pope Francis continues his groundbreaking progressive approach to Catholicism with plans to expand next year on one of his favorite causes: climate change and protecting the environment. The pope is expected to make climate change a large part of his leadership efforts throughout 2015, according to ThinkProgress.org, using the papacy to encourage the 1.2 billion Catholics to protect the environment as “God’s creation.”
Pope Francis has even gone as far as to call the destruction of the rainforest a sin, and cautioned Catholics and non-Catholics alike that protecting the environment is a sacred matter, going as far as back as his inaugural mass in 2013.
“The vocation of being a ‘protector,’ however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live.”
Under Pope Francis’ leadership in 2014, the Catholic Church held a five-day summit with scientists and experts on the environment, and the Pope already has plans in place to address the New York general assembly next September regarding climate change and general environmental issues. Pope Francis will also attend The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change global meeting in Paris at the end of 2015.
Taking further action related to the operations of the Catholic Church, the pope will be drafting a formal letter to all Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, called an encyclical, specifically addressing climate change.
Dan Misleh, director of the Catholic climate covenant, told The Guardian these letters are rare and uses Pope Francis’ highest level of authority in creating the document, expected to be somewhere around 50-60 pages long. But the pope can expect some push-back from other church members as well as evangelical groups and even member of Congress.
“There will always be 5-10 percent of people who will take offense,” Misleh told The Guardian. “They are very vocal and have political clout. This encyclical will threaten some people and bring joy to others. The arguments are around economics and science rather than morality.”
Pope Francis has distinguished himself from previous popes in his progressive views on such topics as evolution, homosexuality, and politics within the Vatican. These views, as well as the pope’s humility and his example of leading a far less lavish lifestyle than previous popes, have made him very popular among non-Catholics as well as members of his own church.
Do you agree with Pope Francis that harming the environment is a “sin?”
Don’t snicker too much, it happened before.
You know, I thought the media was really superb at putting words in Francis’ mouth; it’s clear, though, that FReepers meet ‘em punch for punch.
This artcle contains exactly one quote from the Pope (a highly general call for good environmental stewardship from his installation), zero statements from The Vatican, and a whole slew of speculation, projection, and outright distortion. I would have thought after the whole “pets go to Heaven” nonsense that we would learn our lesson, but sadly I’ve come to think the worst about folks around here when it comes to their understanding of Vatican affairs.
What? Dogs don’t go to heaven?
Scat, scat, scat.
As I stated, you will not prevent me from posting on whatever forum or thread I choose to post on.
However, I will ignore any and all posts to me from you as of this moment. I suggest you treat my posts in the same manner.
whatever else this man is he is NOT a scientist and he definitely lacks common sense
Oh to be the proverbial fly on the wall at the Vatican. There are a lot of folks trying to blow their horn and getting the people to call it the Pope’s horn.
To think we have any truly major impact on the environment is arrogant.
It would need something like global thermonuclear war to do this.
Whether you meant to say “Devoted” or “Devout,” your statement is far from the truth.
You will find plenty of faithful Catholics, including around here and including myself, who are not pleased with Francis’ apparent leftward lean, and know exactly where to draw the line between faith and blind bedience.
You may want to check your facts before you make such a comment.
OK, right after I find what bedience means
RE: I’m sure this is just a mistake, with translation corrections to follow.
Lather, rinse, repeat....
Sounds like he’s getting into bed with the Communists in the UN who will use the fraud of climate change to redistribute money from Europe and the U.S. to poor countries. Of course, the people never see this money because their government officials steal it. The pope should know this, having lived in South America.
Dear Pope: Stick to faith and morals. Leave politics to the evil ones.
| I substitute nothing for core devotion to the Lord, and your insinuation is a canard. It is because of my core devotion to the Lord that I am Pro-Life. It is because of my core devotion to the Lord that I support traditional - i.e. Sacramental - Matrimony. It is because of my core devotion to the Lord that I abhor the abuses perpetrated by the clergy of my Church. I will never leave my Church, but I believe my Church is leaving me. |
 |
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”—(2 Peter 3:10)
The green movement is another façade of the radical left as it is the Marxist liberation theology. Both movements have been strongly embraced by Francis. How much needs the Church a pope with the strong faith and intellectual caliber of Benedict XVI!!!
H.H. Pope Benedict XVI wrote his own Encyclicals. Although Francis is not intellectually gifted to write any kind of Encyclical; he will use as ghost writers several of the deranged environmentalists that push the hoax of the human responsibility for climate changes.
During the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI, exasperated with the chaos prevailing, said that “it seems that the smoke from hell have entered through the windows of the Vatican.” Under Francis a five alarm fire is destroying the Vatican and the Church.
Yes, he is. Very worried about our world.
What about wind turbines mauling and solar panels incinerating God’s little creatures called BIRDS by the millions every year.. Huh POPE?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.