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[Catholic Caucus] UNEARTHED: 1995 photo shows Pope Leo[ XIV participating in Pachamama ritualExclusive to LifeSiteNews, this explosive revelation will feature prominently in Fr. Charles Murr's forthcoming book on the new pontiff.Fr. Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV) present at a Pachamama ritual in 1995 LifeSiteNewsIn an explosive revelation that will feature prominently in his forthcoming book on the new pontiff, Faith & Reason co-host Fr. Charles Murr has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV — then Fr. Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A. — actively participated in a pagan Pachamama “Mother Earth” agricultural ritual while attending an official Augustinian theological symposium.The story was...

As if dating in this tech-obsessed era wasn’t difficult enough, women on social media have decided that those who favor meat as a pizza topping are walking red flags. As surface level as that sounds, women like Esme Hewitt (@esmehewitt) have a strong case for this way of thinking, stressing that their views on pizza toppings are more about a person’s empathy toward the environment and the state of our climate. In a TikTok video with almost 500,000 views, the content creator elaborated, saying, “I personally think that if you can’t reduce your meat intake, then you are selfish. What...

Pope Leo chides climate skeptics, embraces Francis’s environmental legacyPope Leo XIV took aim Wednesday at climate skeptics who “ridicule those who speak of global warming,” as he strongly embraced Pope Francis’ environmental legacy and made it his own in some of his strongest and most extensive comments to date.Leo presided over a 10th anniversary celebration of Francis’ landmark ecological encyclical, Laudato si’, at a global gathering held at Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s traditional summer residence south of Rome. That encyclical cast care for the planet as an urgent and existential moral concern, and launched a global grassroots movement to advocate...

A new rite published by the Vatican on Thursday will allow priests to celebrate a Mass to exhort Catholics to exercise care for the Earth, in the latest push by the 1.4-billion-member global Church to address global climate change. For centuries, Catholic priests have been able to celebrate special Masses to pray for their country, give thanks after a harvest or ask God to end a natural disaster. The new "Mass for the care of creation," prepared by two Vatican offices, allows priests to pray that Catholics will "lovingly care" for creation and "learn to live in harmony with all...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican unveils ‘care of creation’ Mass rooted in Laudato si’, ‘theology of creation’Cdl. Czerny and Abp. Viola said the impetus behind the new Mass texts was heavily influenced by Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato si’, ‘On care for our common home.’The Vatican released the texts for the new votive Mass “for the care of creation” Thursday and announced that Pope Leo XIV will use the new prayers for a private Mass with a group at Castel Gandolfo next week.At 10 a.m. Rome time on July 3, the Holy See Press Office published a decree “on the formulary and...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican again turns off lights for ‘Earth Hour’ to promote ‘respect for Our Mother Earth’Father Enzo Fortunato, the communicators director of St. Peter’s Basilica, linked the move to Pope Francis’ encyclical on ‘climate change,’ Laudato Si’."The Vatican once again turned off its external lights for an hour this weekend to “raise awareness of respect for Our Mother Earth.”In a statement issued to journalists accredited to the Holy See late Saturday afternoon, Father Enzo Fortunato – the recently appointed director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica – announced the darkening of the basilica that evening: On the occasion of...

Some 300 million people around the world are starting their annual celebration of renewal and harmony with nature in what is to them the biggest cultural holiday of the year, typically involving 13 days of rituals. Nowruz (alternatively spelled Nauruz, Nauryz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nooruz, Norooz, Norouz, or Novruz), also known as Persian New Year (Nowruz means “new day” in Persian), is celebrated across ethnic groups with a common Silk Roads heritage, including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey, as well as their diaspora in other countries. Watch more from TIME Click to Learn More AD pause volume_off...

In his second Christmas address to the nation since ascending to the throne, King Charles III beseeched Britons and those worldwide to “protect the earth”, continuing his longstanding green agenda advocacy. In a pre-recorded Christmas address filmed in Buckingham Palace, King Charles said: “To care for this creation is a responsibility owned by people of all faiths and of none. We care for the Earth for the sake of our children’s children.

Pope Francis to COP28: Environmental destruction is ‘an offense against God’Pope Francis called the destruction of the environment “an offense against God” in a message given to the participants in the U.N. climate summit on Saturday.The keynote address that the pope had intended to give in person at the COP28 conference was distributed to the attendees in Dubai, where Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin read a shortened version of the pope’s speech to the assembly on Dec. 2.Pope Francis, who turns 87 in two weeks, canceled his scheduled trip to the United Arab Emirates days before the climate...

Shazam! The idea struck me like a bolt of lightning. One of the great joys of living in Jerusalem is participating in the all-night Torah study sessions offered for free around town into the wee hours of the holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost) – celebrating the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai approximately 3,700 years ago. I have to admit that as I age, my ability to focus late into the night has waned and my mind wanders, as a good Jew’s often does, to some of the Big Issues of the day. On this particular holy night, as the...

In a message for the upcoming Season of Creation, Albanian Archbishop Angelo Massafra of Shkodër-Pult, a member of the Pastoral Social Care Commission of the Council of Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), echoes Pope Francis’ call for an ecological conversion, recalling that the current climate crisis is mainly attributable to the actions of man.As the Church prepares to celebrate the Season of Creation, from 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, to 4 October 2021, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron Saint of Ecology, the European Bishops join Pope Francis in urging...

Pope Francis Prays U.N. Climate Summit Will ‘Unite the Human Family’ROME — Pope Francis said Wednesday that “Mother Earth groans and begs us to stop our abuse” of creation.Following his weekly general audience in the Vatican, the pontiff noted September 1 will mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, kicking off a month-long “Season of Creation,” culminating on October 4, the feast of St Francis of Assisi. The pope went on to express his wish that the call to listen to the voice of creation will “foster in everyone a concrete commitment to care for our...

Germany's Catholic environmental Bishop, Rolf Lohmann takes a sceptical view of the debate on extending the operating lives of German nuclear power plants. In perspective, he said, it is ethically imperative to "phase out sooner rather than later, as nuclear energy remains a risky technology." Lohmann praised climate strike actions. Germany's Catholic environmental Bishop Rolf Lohmann takes a sceptical view of the debate on extending the operating life of German nuclear power plants. It is true that "it would be wrong to categorically rule out this measure in an emergency", the auxiliary bishop from Xanten told the weekly newspapers "Neue...

The ecological display is designed to highlight awareness of ‘climate change’ and is named after the pagan goddess known also as ‘Pachamama.’COBH, Ireland (LifeSiteNews) – A historic Catholic cathedral in the south of Ireland is currently displaying a giant earth sculpture named after a pagan god of the earth, in an ecological display attempting to “appreciate the complex rhythms of our planet.” The historic Cobh Cathedral in the Diocese of Cloyne is currently home to a giant sculpture of the earth, named GAIA, designed to highlight awareness of “climate change.” The name GAIA is that of the Greek earth goddess...

Rome Newsroom, May 19, 2022 / 09:54 am Pope Francis formally launched an international educational movement on Thursday in the presence of U2 singer Bono. The pope inaugurated the Scholas Occurrentes International Educational Movement on May 19 during a meeting with young people at Rome’s Pontifical Urban University.The 85-year-old pope sat in a wheelchair as he watched student presentations, before engaging in a question-and-answer session. Bono asked Pope Francis about the role of women and girls in tackling the climate crisis. The pope replied by pointing out that people speak of “Mother Earth,” not “Father Earth,” and indicating that women...

SAO PAULO (CNS) — A Catholic prelature in Brazil's Amazon has decreed that its parishes will not accept donations from any person or company that displaces minorities or damages the earth. Bishop José Ionilton Lisboa de Oliveira of Itacoatiara has prohibited parishes, pastoral communities, groups and movements linked to the prelature -- similar to a diocese — from receiving financial resources from those he says "damage the Amazon." "We decree, for an indefinite period, that in parishes, communities, pastorals, groups and movements of the Prelature of Itacoatiara, we will not receive financial resources, in currency or other goods, from politicians,...

I was very lucky to be able to make this little film.

In a letter to the spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Pope Francis called for the creation of new institutions of “global governance” to help advance the “integral human development of all peoples.” He also said the “financial industry” should calculate the “ecological debt” of countries “so that developed countries can pay it.…” We cannot “overlook another kind of debt: the ‘ecological debt’ that exists, especially between the global north and south,” said the Pope in his April 8 letter. “We are, in fact, in debt to nature itself, as well as the people and...

Vatican observes 'Earth Hour'On Saturday, along with the Vatican, symbolic monuments of cities all across the globe turn off their lights, to demonstrate the serious global climate crisis.By Vatican News staff writerVatican City State took part in the traditional international initiative Earth Hour 2021, promoted annually by the environmental organization, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).On Saturday, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (Rome time), the lights of the dome and the facade of St. Peter's Basilica, as well as the colonnade, were turned off. Only a few lights remained on for safety reasons.Earth hourEarth Hour is billed as...

The Prince of Wales has issued a stark warning that humans have just ten years left to save the planet. “We really do have to pull our fingers out now because the theory is we have got this decade left,” he declared. Prince Charles was marking the 50th anniversary of a landmark speech he made on the environment by calling for nature to be put back at the center of modern life. In 1970, he had warned about the problems of plastic waste, chemicals being discharged into rivers and air pollution caused by factories, cars and planes. This was regarded...