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[Catholic Caucus] Amazon Church renews ‘synodal commitments’ in line with ‘dream of Pope Francis’Pope Leo XIV sent a video message approving of the ‘objectives’ of the Amazonian ecclesial body as they vowed to implement Francis' ‘deeply synodal’ plans.The Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA) has re-elected its leadership and doubled down on promoting a “synodal” Church in continuity with the “dream of Pope Francis.”In March, CEAMA held its 6th General Assembly under the motto, “I am about to do something new; even now it is springing forth. Do you not perceive it?” (Is 43:19) in Bogotá, Colombia. The body elected...

New Vatican document urges Catholic families to ‘ecological conversion’Two Vatican dicasteries released a joint document calling upon Catholic families to embrace ‘integral ecology,’ drawing a direct line between environmental practice and moral formation.A new Vatican document calls on Catholic families to embrace “integral ecology,” framing “ecological conversion” as inseparable from the “journey toward holiness” and linking ecological habits to the fight against abortion and euthanasia.On April 27, the Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life released a joint document titled “Integral Ecology in the Life of the Family,” the stated goal of which...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo’s Vatican quadruples down on support for the green agendaDuring his first five months in office, Pope Leo XIV has indeed continued the green legacy of his predecessor, Francis.The Vatican is quadrupling down on its support for the green agenda.Last month, the Holy See submitted to the United Nations its plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent over the next decade.Among other things, the plan, which is part of the Church’s obligation to the Paris Climate Accords – which the Trump administration withdrew from earlier this year – will include developing a 1,000-acre solar panel...

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...