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Note to Vatican Enviro-Boosters: The Amazon Is Pretty Awful “Gatherers and hunters par excellence.” That phrase from the Amazon Synod’s solemn-sounding Instrumentum Laboris is hard to let go. Its glittering fatuity is the keynote of a Vatican syllabus for a theologized pre-industrial age in communion with “the identity of the cosmos.” A neo-neolithic age.It is impossible to think the bishops believe their own cant. Max Scheler’s classic examination of ressentiment makes more sense. The father of philosophical anthropology wrote: “A is affirmed, valued, and praised not for its intrinsic quality, but with the unverbalized intention of denying, devaluing, and denigrating...

[Catholic/Orthodox Caucus] Do not act with tyranny towards God’s creation, Pope Francis says 'Let us say ‘no’ to consumerist greed and to the illusion of omnipotence, for these are the ways of death,' the Pope said In a message for Sunday’s World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to make simple changes to their lives so that God’s creation is treated with respect.“Too many of us act like tyrants with regard to creation. Let us make an effort to change and to adopt more simple and respectful lifestyles!” he said in the September 1...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — “Now is the time to abandon our dependence on fossil fuels and move, quickly and decisively, toward forms of clean energy,” Pope Francis said as he marked the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.“We have caused a climate emergency that gravely threatens nature and life itself, including our own,” the pope said in his message for the Sept. 1 ecumenical day of prayer.Pope Francis urged Catholics to find a naturally beautiful place and think about how God created the universe and declared it good; then he created human beings and gave them creation...

Pope Francis mourns melted Iceland glacier… the nation which aborts almost 100% of babies with Down syndrome ICELAND, August 19, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Iceland, which aborts nearly 100 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome, has held a funeral for a glacier. The glacier, known as Okjökull or “Ok,” covered 6.2 square miles in 1890. However, by 2012, it had shrunk to less than 0.3 miles, and in 2014 Icelandic scientists decided it was no longer moving. An Icelandic geologist, Oddur Sigurðsson, told Agence France-Presse that “...We made the decision that this was no longer a living glacier, it was...

Pope Francis’s Greatest Fear for the Planet: ‘Loss of Biodiversity’ ROME — Pope Francis displayed his solid ecological credentials this week, declaring that climate change is a “global emergency” and insisting that what he fears most is a loss of biodiversity. In a wide-ranging interview published by the Italian daily La Stampa Friday, Pope Francis said that the upcoming Vatican synod of bishops on the Amazon region will focus heavily on environmental issues.Asked why he convoked the synod, Francis said it is a “child” of his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si on care for creation. “Those who have not read it...

In interview, pope outlines Amazon synod, warns against nationalism Pope Francis greets Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 17, 2019. In a new interview on the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Amazon, Pope Francis praised the increased awareness and efforts among young people to seek action on climate change. VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Amazon is an “urgent” gathering, not of scientists and politicians, but for the church whose main focus in discussions will be evangelization, Pope Francis said in a new...

Francis: “I don’t separate Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants” Pope Francis is happy that the former German war minister, Ursula von der Leyen, a pro-gay ideologist, is the new President of the European Commission, the EU’s main executive body."Women unite," Pope Francis told the Italian daily La Stampa (August 9). For him the main challenge for the EU is "dialogue," although he himself kills any form of dialogue in his own Church.Those who are critical of mass-immigration resemble according to Francis to "Hitler in 1934."Francis uses the pro-life expression "right to life" to propagate mass-immigration claiming [falsely] that illegal mass-immigrants into...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Barreto: A Surprise (perhaps) Now Explained The nomination as cardinal of the Most Rev. Pedro Barreto Jimeno, Archbishop of Huancayo, Peru, in May 2018, was a capital surprise. Some compared it to a small atomic bomb. Indeed, Peru has always had only one cardinal, that of the primatial see of Lima, the country’s capital, which thus became a point of reference for the Church at the national level. Other seats such as Arequipa, Trujillo and Cusco could have aspired to this honor, given their historical and cultural importance. With all due respect to its citizens, certainly not...

Climate should be 'a central priority' for US church, says Bishop McElroy Omaha, Neb. — During an advocacy-focused breakout session at last month's "Laudato Si' and the U.S. Catholic Church" conference, a room of 30 Catholics were asked to list organizations and people within the church they perceived as engaged on the issue of climate change. Visit National Catholic Reporter's Online Classifieds to learn about job opportunities, events, retreats and more. Almost every corner of the church — colleges, hospitals, women religious, Pope Francis, aid organizations, even bishops' conferences of other countries — was represented in the 20 or so...

The Vatican and UN Environment bring faith organizations together to “care for our common home” The UN Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth Initiative, with its slogan "One earth, many religions, one goal", aims to tap into, and harness, the enormous goodwill and power of the world’s religious authorities and believers to make a positive difference to our global environment. July 2019 is the fourth anniversary of Laudato Si', the second encyclical of Pope Francis, specifically on the environment. In it, the Pope calls on all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action" against unsustainable practices. To...

[Catholic Caucus] Amazon Synod Working Document Criticized for Serving ‘Neo-Pagan Agenda’ Cardinal Lorenzo BaldisseriThe working document for the upcoming synod of bishops on the Amazon region represents a “total opening of the gates of the Magisterium to Indian theology and eco-theology” which includes “clearly pagan” and “pantheistic elements of belief,” a Chilean author has said.José Antonio Ureta of the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute, part of the Tradition, Family and Property movement founded the eponymous Catholic thinker, said the new document opens the Church up to these two theologies which are “two Latin American derivatives of liberation theology.”Like liberation theology,...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican’s Amazon Synod appears bent on agenda that borders on nature-worship…where’s the Gospel? June 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — As we approach the 2019 Pan-Amazonian Synod, scheduled to be held in October, the organizers are becoming more and more open about their goals. In the name of learning from, and protecting, the tribal peoples of Amazonia, the synod appears bent on promoting a radical form of environmentalism that borders on nature-worship, not to mention romanticizing the hunter-gatherers themselves as Noble Savages. The indigenous peoples living in the Amazon Basin offer, according to the Preparatory Document, “a model of alternative,...

Pope Francis on June 8, 2019, urged more progress on sustainable development goals in an address to 2019 International Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation. “Your Conference this year has chosen to reflect on the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ and the call to a conversion of minds and hearts so that the development of an integral ecology can become ever more a priority internationally, nationally and indeed individually,” Pope Francis noted. “In the four years since the publication of the Encyclical, there have certainly been signs of increased awareness of the need to care for our common home....

As Amazon Synod approaches, Vatican’s claims about environment deserve scrutiny Editor’s Note: Steve Mosher has written a two-part series on the upcoming Amazonian Synod. Part I, below, addresses certain scientific claims about the Amazon made by the synod organizers, chiefly Cardinal Barreto. Part II will address the cardinal’s new proposals — purportedly based on lessons learned from the indigenous peoples of the Amazon — on how the Church can achieve gender equality, alleviate the priest shortage, and use environmentally appropriate matter in the celebration of the Eucharist. May 30, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Preparations are in full swing for the Special...

[Barf Alert] Vatican Cardinal: Time to Stage an ‘Intervention’ to Stop Climate Change A top Vatican cardinal is urging nations to put an end to the “fossil fuel era” and to stage an “intervention” against climate change. In a dramatic message to the “scientific community” Friday, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said that the world is undergoing a veritable “climate crisis, caused by man’s interference in nature.”

The Pope as Politician; The Politician as Pope A striking role reversal is taking place in the public domain: politicians want to talk about morals and moral leaders want to talk about politics.We have Pope Francis recently saying that nation states must yield their sovereignty to “intergovernmental institutions that manage their common interests.” And a homosexual politician who aspires to lead America proclaims that committing sodomy with a man he calls his “husband” has “moved me closer to God.”The Pope has identified “climate change” as a threat to the “common good” and declared himself convinced of this by having examined...

[Barf Alert] Listen to young climate strikers-Vatican (ANSA) - Vatican City, May 24 - The Vatican on Friday called on international leaders to listen to the young people in Italy and around the world who staged the latest in a a series of school strikes on Friday calling for action to address the climate crisis. "We need to appeal to political leaders to be far more courageous and to listen to the dramatic cry raised by the scientific community and the climate youth movement," said Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development....

Pope Urges Youth to Hear the ‘Anguished Plea of the Earth’ In a letter to young business people for an upcoming event titled “Economy of Francesco,” named for Saint Francis of Assisi, the pope declared that “the safeguarding of the environment cannot be divorced from ensuring justice for the poor and finding answers to the structural problems of the global economy.”“We need to correct models of growth incapable of guaranteeing respect for the environment,” he said.Saint Francis is a worthy model to follow, the pope said, because he is “the outstanding example of care for the vulnerable and of an...

Pope Francis calls for new ‘supranational’ authorities to enforce UN goals ROME, May 2, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis made a strong push for globalism on Thursday, calling for a supranational, legally constituted body to enforce United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and implement “climate change” policies.  Speaking to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the Pope said: “When a supranational common good is clearly identified, there is need for a special legally constituted authority capable of facilitating its implementation.”  “Think of the great contemporary challenges of climate change, new slavery and peace,” he told members of the Pontifical Academy,...

Pope Francis: 'The common good has become global' Pope Francis called on nations to work toward a global common good Thursday, particularly in confronting climate change, human trafficking, and nuclear threats. Vatican City, (CNA) - "In the current situation of globalization not only of the economy but also of technological and cultural exchanges, the nation state is no longer able to procure the common good of its population alone," Pope Francis told the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences May 2.