Climate Change
Our Influence is Uncertain
Climate Change is a Fact
“The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.”
Pope Francis, 23
“Christians, in particular, realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty towards nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith.”
Pope St. John Paul II, 15
“In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow, man consumes the resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered way…In this regard, humanity today must be conscious of its duties and obligations towards future generations.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 37)
“The earth is a precious gift of the Creator, who has designed its intrinsic order, thus giving us guidelines to which we must hold ourselves as stewards of his creation…In my recent Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, I referred more than once to such questions.” (Pope Benedict XVI)
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“It is my hope that this Encyclical Letter (Laudato Si’), which is now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching, can help us to acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face.” (Pope Francis, 15)
Climate Change is one topic among a myriad of ecological and environmental issues facing us. In Solidarity with our fellow man, the Church insists we have a responsibility to evaluate and prioritize environmental issues and, using our prudential judgment, address as many of those so prioritized as we can.
However…
It is complicated: To be sure, change in climate is a fact of science. The extent to which human activity influences it is not settled science. As well, whether some measures proposed to reduce emissions will do more harm than good is also not a settled matter. Pressing ahead as though these things are settled matters may make the Church look less like responsible stewards of God’s creation and more like political agents.
Addressing Climate Change
Who is Responsible?
It is up to the lay faithful to implement Catholic social teaching in the world: Gaudium et Spes (the Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World) establishes this responsibility.
“Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment.” (Pope Francis, 3.1)
Is it a Political Issue?
One political party committed the country to a significant international accord on the topic (The Paris Agreement) and has proposed a “Green New Deal” which would allocate tremendous resources to it; the other party has withdrawn the US from the international accord and opposes the other party’s current proposals.
Fulfilling My Obligation
“[T]he formation of just structures…belongs to the world of politics”. (Pope Benedict XVI, 29)
“Politics is an essential means of building human community and institutions”. (Pope Francis)
“We, Christians, cannot ‘play Pilate’ and wash our hands…We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics.” (Pope Francis)
Pope Francis recognizes that this “is not easy; politics has become too tainted. But I ask myself: Why has it become tainted? Because Christians have not participated in politics with an evangelical spirit? …To work for the common good is a Christian duty, and many times the way in which to work towards it is through politics.” (Address to the Students of the Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania, June 7, 2013)
How Best to Address Politically
“[W]hat does it mean, in practical terms, to promote moral truth in the world of politics…?
- It means acting in a responsible way on the basis of an objective and integral
knowledge of the facts; - deconstructing political ideologies which end up supplanting truth and
human dignity in order to promote pseudo-values under the pretext of peace,
development and human rights; - fostering an unswerving commitment to base positive law on the principles of the natural law.” (Pope Benedict XVI, 12)
‘People of goodwill’ should dialogue – and they can disagree on “positions” – as long as their prudential judgement is well formed (ala Pope Benedict XVI’s ‘matrix’ above and a deep internalization of Catholic social teaching principles.)
What is the Current State of Affairs?
Updated 2024
“On almost every environment and climate change and global warming issue we have tested, there are major partisan gaps.” (Gallup – Frank Newport)
In fact, “Democrats and Republicans have grown further apart over the last decade in their assessments of the threat posed by climate change.” (Pew Research 2023)
Indeed, one of the starkest displays of political polarization in the U.S. is on the subject of climate change with Americans “who view climate change as a major threat” being: Democrat = 78%; Republican = 23%. (Pew Research 2023, 5)
And, overall, Americans rank climate change as 17th out of 21 national issues in a 2023 (Pew Research) study with the Yale Climate Change Study reporting “Global Warming Should be a High Priority”: Democrat: 48%; Republican: 5% (Yale Climate Change Communication)
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The Yale Program on Climate Change Communications bears this out:
In 2022, climate change was viewed as caused by human activity by: (Explore Climate Change in the American Mind)
- 25% of conservative Republicans
- 47% of liberal/moderate Republicans
- 54% of the Independents;
- 71% of moderate/conservative Democrats
- 88% of liberal Democrats
Similar percentages reported there being a “scientific consensus” on the issue. (Explore Climate Change in the American Mind)
“Perhaps more troubling was that over the period 2017-2022 Independents agreeing climate change was human caused had dropped from 60% to 54%”. (Explore Climate Change in the American Mind)
The Need for Discussion
“An integral ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common good, a central and unifying principle of social ethics.” (Pope Francis, 156)
With such a significant number of Americans not viewing human caused climate change as a “long held truth”, their perception must be addressed in order to form the political consensus required for any immediate and extensive solutions.
For this to occur (as for all critical social issues) discussion is needed! Indeed, discussing climate change is required to adequately form consciences (with the tenets of Catholic social teaching) and find/agree solutions.
“To break through the communications barriers of human nature, partisan identity, and media fragmentation, messages need to be tailored to a specific medium and audience…that trigger a new way of thinking about the personal relevance of climate change.” (Matthew Nisbet)
The Need for Faith & Science
This suggests activities by Catholics should focus on grassroots efforts to educate people and shape individual behaviors, and, perhaps, this is an area where science and faith need each other:
“The faith community really can’t understand this problem without understanding the science … and the scientific community is going to need the faith community to inspire and motivate and provide a different kind of vision for how we live on this planet together…I think until that dialogue really kind of ratchets up, it’s going to be tough for either community to go this alone. In other words, we can’t do this without the science and technology that they are going to bring, and they won’t be able to change minds and hearts without us.” (Dan Misleh, Executive Director of Catholic Climate Covenant)
In Summary
If the time to address global warming is truly short and human actions can ameliorate it – one can and must make the political case for such action.
And, Americans seem to be open and willing to listen.
As Mr. Newport, of Gallup, noted: “Americans are, in essence, open to argument about the relative benefits of the Paris Agreement. That is, Americans are open to argument about the accord’s positive impact of helping the environment and reducing the upward trend in the earth’s temperature on the one hand, and its cost in terms of slowing job growth and increasing federal expenditures, as well as its fairness to the U.S. on the other.”
What About other Environmental Issues?
“The natural environment is given by God to everyone, and its use entails a personal responsibility towards the whole of humanity”.
Pope Benedict XVI
In focusing extensively on Climate Change is it worth considering: Are we missing “the forest for the trees”?
Catholic Social Teaching and Other Issues
Why These Issues Matter
Catholic social teaching informs our consciences and requires action from us, the lay faithful. “Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation.
For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment.”
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