US Catholics ready to follow Pope's 'marching orders' on climate change

[Abynissa]

theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-catholics-us-response
Religious leaders say pontiff’s call for action brings urgency to existing support for environmental measures in Obama administrations’s climate plan
Suzanne Goldenberg US environment correspondent

Leaders of the Catholic church in America took their “marching orders” from the pope’s encyclical on Thursday, fanning out to Congress and the White House to push for action on climate change. The high-level meetings offered a first glimpse of a vast and highly organised effort by the leadership of America’s nearly 80 million Catholics to turn the pope’s moral call for action into reality.

“It is our marching orders for advocacy,” Joseph Kurtz, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archbishop of Louisville, said. “It really brings about a new urgency for us.” Representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said they would hold two briefings for members of Congress on Thursday and visit the White House on Friday to promote and explain the pope’s environmental message.

Personally, I believe Pope Francis should excommunicate from the Church any Catholic who disobeys or tries to undermine this encyclical. Pope Francis reference to killing Mother Earth and the people who live on it.

-The Heck with the Kock Brothers, we know where they’re headed in the next life. The Pope is the moral leader of the Catholic Church and must be obeyed by every Catholic!

 

[BigBlueCane]

Every right wing catholic will try to discredit him or say he shouldn’t get involved because he’s bringing issues to the table like living wage, environment that really shame their political beliefs.

 

[Adonia]

Not this U.S. Catholic. I will look to the Holy Father for the correct teaching on spiritual matters, not secular political ones.

 

[Used2beSherryG]

Every right wing catholic will try to discredit him or say he shouldn’t get involved because he’s bringing issues to the table like living wage, environment that really shame their political beliefs.

We are not talking politics here. We ALL have a stake in doing God’s will and being good stewards of the earth and ALL life upon the earth.

 

[ringil]

Every right wing catholic will try to discredit him or say he shouldn’t get involved because he’s bringing issues to the table like living wage, environment that really shame their political beliefs.

There is no “trying” to discredit the Holy Father. Folks around here have already done so under the veil of “prudential judgment” as in “I don’t have to listen to this”.

 

[blindmouse]

Not this U.S. Catholic. I will look to the Holy Father for the correct teaching on spiritual matters, not secular political ones.

That line is not always so clear. Is supportive the poor a spiritual matter or an economic one? What about the popes role in the fall of the Soviet Union? Wasn’t that political? Destroying the environment ultimately harms the poor the most

 

[Ridgerunner]

theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-catholics-us-response
Religious leaders say pontiff’s call for action brings urgency to existing support for environmental measures in Obama administrations’s climate plan
Suzanne Goldenberg US environment correspondent

Leaders of the Catholic church in America took their “marching orders” from the pope’s encyclical on Thursday, fanning out to Congress and the White House to push for action on climate change. The high-level meetings offered a first glimpse of a vast and highly organised effort by the leadership of America’s nearly 80 million Catholics to turn the pope’s moral call for action into reality.

“It is our marching orders for advocacy,” Joseph Kurtz, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archbishop of Louisville, said. “It really brings about a new urgency for us.” Representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said they would hold two briefings for members of Congress on Thursday and visit the White House on Friday to promote and explain the pope’s environmental message.

Personally, I believe Pope Francis should excommunicate from the Church any Catholic who disobeys or tries to undermine this encyclical. Pope Francis reference to killing Mother Earth and the people who live on it.

-The Heck with the Kock Brothers, we know where they’re headed in the next life. The Pope is the moral leader of the Catholic Church and must be obeyed by every Catholic!

You are aware, are you not, that the Pope allowed that there is disagreement on the subject even though he seems to believe it himself? Please point out that part of the encyclical that says belief in MMGW is now a doctrine of the Catholic Church like belief in the Trinity, and that part saying it’s a mortal sin if we don’t.

That’s right. Neither is there.

While you’re twisting his words to make it seem like he did say those things, please quote the part where he says “buying carbon credits” (the Al Gore remedy) is the moral choice. Oh, that’s right, he said it’s not meritorious. So never mind that part.

So, just point out where he endorsed Obama’s plan to make utility bills “skyrocket”. That’s really what American MMGW is all about.

 

[on_the_hill]

So, just point out where he endorsed Obama’s plan to make utility bills “skyrocket”. That’s really what American MMGW is all about.

So, you say the Republicans are behind it, eh?

 

[Linusthe2nd]

Just finished reading it. I apprecieated the spiritual aspects of the Encyclical but think it is much too Utopian to be practical. And of course I disagree that Global Warmaing or Climate Change is caused by human action or can be solved by human action. The overwhelming environmental threat, in my opinion, is the proliferation of nuclear reactors around the world which has led to ” oceans ” of toxic waste for which there is absolutely no secure method of disposal. Further, the danger of a nuclear catastrophy looms ever more likely in the future. This personal concern is followed by the pollution of water ways and oceans around the world. Good luck on solving either of these problems.

The political solutions offered by the Encyclical are truly unrealistic, in my opinion. I don’t see how they can be accomplished without trampling on the national rights of individual nations, without the establishment of a world wide dictatorial authority, and who wants that.

Also, I don’t share the Encylical’s promotion of alternate fuels to replace carbon based fuels. To this point solar and wind have not proven very efficient or even remotely effective. And they will not be unless an effective and cheap method of energy storage and disersal is found. As it stands now both of these systems require stand by, traditionally fired, power stations ready to supply energy when the wind or the sun are not cooperating, which is half the time for solar. Besides this, these systems are hugely expensive. Can we afford it, can anyone afford it.

I would like to see a clean, cheap renewable energy source too, but there is none on the horizon…

As far as " not taking sides " is concerned, the Encyclical definitely comes down on the side of those promoting man made Global Warming/Climate change, no credit was given to the thousands of scientists who say that man does not cause it and that man cannot do anything to stop it even if it did exist. It does not even question the validity of the notion that we are undergoing climate change when it is well known that those promoting it have fudged the data. Yes, it was a biased treatment - in my opinion.

The Encyclical speaks of the need for ” transparancy ” in solving environmental problems. Good luck on that. There has been almost no transparancy in our own govenment ( U.S.A.) for the last eight years. Even now it is trying desperately to pass a Fast Track Trade Agreement without open discussion or possibility of amendment. So good by transparancy.

But the Encyclical does a good job at ” consciousness raising ” on some socia/moral issues. I was glad to see that.

Linus

---

 

[Vouthon]

Is supportive the poor a spiritual matter or an economic one?

Oppressing the poor and defrauding workers of their just wages are two of the sins that “cry to heaven for vengeance” in traditional Catholic thought:

The Four Sins ‘Crying to Heaven for Vengeance’ Are:

1. Willful Murder
2. The Sin of Sodom
3. Oppression of the Poor
4. Defrauding Laborers of Their Wages

Ref.: A Catechism of Christian Doctrine (“Penny Catechism”)

catholic.com/quickquestions/what-are-sins-that-cry-to-heaven-for-vengeance-and-sins-against-the-holy-spirit

Most Catholics are familiar with the term mortal sin. Mortal sins deprive the soul of grace. They are serious transgressions of God’s law, done freely and deliberately with a clear understanding of what they are. Their result is to deny a soul entrance to heaven.

There are particular mortal sins that are so evil that they are said to be sins that cry to heaven for vengeance: murder (Gn 4:10), sodomy (Gn 17:20-21), oppression of the poor (Ex 2:23), and defrauding workers of their just wages (Jas 5:4).

vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm

1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are “sins that cry to heaven”: the blood of Abel,139 the sin of the Sodomites,140 the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt,141 the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan,142 injustice to the wage earner.143

This category of notably evil “social sin” is based on firm biblical and patristic sources.

The catechism also includes the “oppression of the people in Egypt” (slavery) in the list. Others make it four, including this within the “oppression of the poor” category.

 

[Origen52]

Not this U.S. Catholic. I will look to the Holy Father for the correct teaching on spiritual matters, not secular political ones.

Are they not one and the same? I was raised with the precept that in all areas of my life I must act as a catholic; I could not put aside my religious beliefs when dealing with the secular world.

Our goal as Christians is to follow gospel values to such an extent that we become images of Christ for others.

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. "

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Where were all these Catholics, so willing and eager to obey ‘this’ encyclical, when Pope St. John Paul II issued Ordinatio Sacerdotalis?

Or when Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae?

If people are so all fired up to acknowledge the Pope’s authority as a ‘mandate’ or marching order on this encyclical (and mind you, I find some compelling arguments and already do, or plan to do, quite a few things mentioned here). . .

then they need to start obeying to the SAME DEGREE for every OTHER Papal encyclical.

We don’t play favorites. A Pope is a Pope is a Pope, and if an encyclical is considered authoritative for **one **Pope, then encyclicals by others are also authoritative as well.

If Pope Francis’ words on the environment are something that loyal Catholics in the world (especially the U.S.) are ‘to consider marching orders’. . .

Then those same Catholics need to do the very same ‘marching’ for those encyclicals above as well as any others.

 

[jimboky]

To me this is the endorsement of Obama, and will ensure that once again the Catholic vote will go Pro Choice, I hope to be proved wrong

 

[stinkcat_14]

Are they not one and the same? I was raised with the precept that in all areas of my life I must act as a catholic; I could not put aside my religious beliefs when dealing with the secular world.

Our goal as Christians is to follow gospel values to such an extent that we become images of Christ for others.

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. "

In political matters there are often many policy options that are consistent with Church teaching, and in that case we are free to differ with one another on the prudence of those policies. For example, some have argued for a national health insurance system like the UK and Canada have. Others have argued for a system like we have in the US. Neither system violates Church teaching, although reasonable people can differ as to their relative prudence.

 

[dans0622]

…
Personally, I believe Pope Francis should excommunicate from the Church any Catholic who disobeys or tries to undermine this encyclical. Pope Francis reference to killing Mother Earth and the people who live on it.

-The Heck with the Kock Brothers, we know where they’re headed in the next life. …

Hello,

That’s just a bit of an overreach (statement 1) and rather judgmental (statement 2). Their name is “Koch”, anyway.

As for me, I am now proud of myself for not using any A/C at home yet this year. Good thing the Pope didn’t say to turn off those fans, too.

Dan

 

[ProVobis]

We don’t play favorites. A Pope is a Pope is a Pope, and if an encyclical is considered authoritative for **one **Pope, then encyclicals by others are also authoritative as well.

If Pope Francis’ words on the environment are something that loyal Catholics in the world (especially the U.S.) are ‘to consider marching orders’. . .

Then those same Catholics need to do the very same ‘marching’ for those encyclicals above as well as any others.

Precisely.

That said, I hope this doesn’t follow the path of Populorum Progressio, where most everyone took it the wrong way.

 

[Vouthon]

Where were all these Catholics, so willing and eager to obey ‘this’ encyclical, when Pope St. John Paul II issued Ordinatio Sacerdotalis?

Or when Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae?

If people are so all fired up to acknowledge the Pope’s authority as a ‘mandate’ or marching order on this encyclical (and mind you, I find some compelling arguments and already do, or plan to do, quite a few things mentioned here). . .

then they need to start obeying to the SAME DEGREE for every OTHER Papal encyclical.

We don’t play favorites. A Pope is a Pope is a Pope, and if an encyclical is considered authoritative for **one **Pope, then encyclicals by others are also authoritative as well.

If Pope Francis’ words on the environment are something that loyal Catholics in the world (especially the U.S.) are ‘to consider marching orders’. . .

Then those same Catholics need to do the very same ‘marching’ for those encyclicals above as well as any others.

Can’t disagree with that on both sides of this debate in the US

 

[boar2roar]

The media has such terrible amnesia when its topic like abortion and their beloved democrats. Or no they don’t they attack the church to get with the times and praise their precious Dems on how good they are.

 

[philipl]

Personally, I believe Pope Francis should excommunicate from the Church any Catholic who disobeys or tries to undermine this encyclical. Pope Francis reference to killing Mother Earth and the people who live on it.-

Just this one or any and all encyclicals?

The Heck with the Kock Brothers, we know where they’re headed in the next life. The Pope is the moral leader of the Catholic Church and must be obeyed by every Catholic!-

We know nothing of the sort. And no he doesnt have to be obeyed by every catholic. If that were the case no catholic would use birth control, homosexual sex, or have abortions.

 

[captainrick]

Not this U.S. Catholic. I will look to the Holy Father for the correct teaching on spiritual matters, not secular political ones.

Same for this Catholic and family. And the suggestion that every Catholic not supporting the Obama agenda should be excommunicated? Not only foolish but disgusting!