Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Catholic Leaders Say Legislation on Climate is ‘Critical’

July 7, 2022

~ by Brian Roewe, EarthBeat, National Catholic Reporter

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to curtail the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants was met with disbelief and disappointment by Catholic and other faith groups, calling it “a moral travesty” with serious repercussions for both people and the climate.

The consequential ruling, issued June 30 in one of the final cases of a monumental term for the court, dealt a major blow to one of the federal government’s tools to reduce the heat-trapping gases, which are driving climate change, from one of the nation’s largest emitting sources: coal and gas-fired power plants. It also raised questions about what leeway other federal agencies will have to interpret laws and directives they’ve been tasked to enforce.

In a statement, the Catholic Climate Covenant said it was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We know the emission of carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels is one of the largest causes of the climate crisis,” said Catholic Climate Covenant’s executive director, Jose Aguto, pointing to rising global temperatures that are driving more dangerous and frequent droughts, heat waves and extreme weather events.

“We must bring these emissions down. Yet, the Supreme Court chose to limit EPA’s authority to regulate these emissions, rendering less resourced our collective imperative to care for creation and address the climate crisis. We ask: how is this decision upholding the life and dignity of every person?” he said.

To read the complete article, please click here

Earth Day is April 22 – “Invest in Our Planet”

April 21, 2022

~ by Julia Gerwe, Global Sisters Report

This year’s Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” EarthDay.org which sets the annual theme and serves as the “world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement,” elaborates:

Earth day is the day to take action not just because you care about the
natural world, but because we all live on it.
Every one of us needs a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods,
health and survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option –
it is a necessity.

I firmly believe that we all carry a responsibility to live more sustainably on this Earth.

“Sustainability” has its origins as an ecological concept referring to how biological systems endure, remaining divers. Now, however, sustainability is commonly used “to describe the viability of interdependent human and natural systems over time,” as the North American Association for Environmental Education writes in its “Guidelines for Excellence: Community Engagement

Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [9] asserts, “Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment.” Sustainability is, in short, living responsibly and living well.

Unfortunately, the science has been telling us for decades that our pace of life and rate of growth are not sustainable. This is the world we inherit. Besides metaphorically hard to swallow, our contributions to the current climate crisis as a species (however unintentional they may be) can also be difficult to comprehend amid the haze of a hundred-billion-dollar fossil fuel industry and sympathetic structures and systems that bolster extractive ways of life.

However, the story of the day and the narrative promoted by this year’s Earth Day theme is simple: Individuals have power.

fact, a September 2020 report [10] from the Stockholm Environment Institute and Oxfam cited that the world’s wealthiest 10% were responsible for almost half of global emissions in 2015. Who are the world’s wealthiest 10%?

Anyone with an annual income of at least $38,000

What can the world’s wealthiest do with their power?

On a macro level, companies, governments, policies and practices need to change. We know that as individuals, we voted not lonely with our ballots, but with our wallets. This is what investing in our planet looks like.

Investing in our planet can also look like simplicity, connection and hope. By living more simply – namely, consuming and traveling less – we directly and indirectly emit less greenhouse gases.

But what about connection? What about hope?

Because I am connected to my local community, I prioritize buying locally grown and made products. Because I love my global community, I try to do conscious research before buying new clothing to ensure that those making the clothing are treated justly and the materials are sourced sustainably,

In this way connection lends itself to hope, which inspires action.

This Earth Day, I challenge everyone to follow this trajectory from connection to hope and to action. Just start by getting some dirt under your fingernails!

To read the entire article, please click here

Catholic Groups Call for Rapid Climate Action re: U.N. Report

April 7, 2022

~ by Brian Roewe, EarthBeat for National Catholic Reporter

Many of the technologies and tactics to avert the worst impacts of climate change exist today. While still a major challenge, what’s missing mostly is the political and financial will to wield them at full force. So says the latest major report from the world’s foremost scientific body on climate change. The report, focusing on mitigation efforts to limit rising temperatures, and with it the fallout from increasing heat was issued on Monday, April 4, by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The report reiterated that immediate, rapid and massive societal shifts this decade are required to meet the world’s goal under the Paris Agreement to limit average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius – a threshold that climate scientists say will expose millions of people to increasing droughts, heatwaves and extreme storms, and with it, result in greater rates of poverty, migration and health issues, all consequences expected to harm vulnerable communities the most.

The nearly 3,000-page IPCC report [5], compiled by 278 authors from 65 countries, is the third issued by the international scientific group in the past nine months as part of the sixth assessment.

“Its message is crystal clear: we need climate action now in the form of deep and urgent emissions reductions and well before 2030, to stay below 1.5 C, said CIDSE, a network of Catholic international justice organizations, in a statement. “As Catholic Development agencies we are inspired by Pope Francis to call for urgent action on the climate emergency.”

In a joint statement, U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa, Alok Sharma and Sameh Shoukry, the heads of the COP 26 and upcoming COP 27 UN climate conferences respectively, said the latest IPCC report “makes it clearer than ever that the window of opportunity to achieve the [1.5 C goal] is rapidly closing.”

“Despite the urgency of our task, there is hope. The window for action has not yet closed…. There is also clear evidence that – with timely and at scale cuts to emissions – countries can pursue a mitigation pathway consistent with limiting global warming” to 1.5 C they said.
To read the full account please click here

Pope Francis tells COP26 to show ‘Political Will’ Not to Defer

November 3, 2021

Pope Francis tells COP26 to show ‘Political Will’ Not to Defer
~ by Brian Roewe, Earth Beat, National Catholic Reporter

Glasgow, Scotland – Addressing the U.N. climate summit with his pen rather than in person, Pope Francis called on world leaders assembled here to demonstrate “political will” and stop deferring the action required to avert the worst catastrophes of climate change.

“As the Glasgow Conference begins, all of us are aware that is has the vital task of demonstrating to the entire international community whether there really exists a political will to devote – with honesty, responsibility and courage – and greater human, financial and technological resources to mitigating the negative effects of climate change and assisting the poorer and more vulnerable nations most affecting by it,” Pope Francis wrote in a message addressed to Alok Sharma, President of the U.N. climate conference known as COP26 which began on October 31.

“Sadly, we must acknowledge how far we remain from achieving the goals set for tackling climate change,” the Pope said. “We need to be honest: this cannot continue!”

“We need both hope and courage,” said Pope Francis. “Humanity possesses the wherewithal to effect this change, which calls for a genuine conversion, individual as well as communitarian, and a decisive will to set out on this path.” The Pope added, “there is no time to waste.”

The Pope in his message challenged diplomats at COP26 to construct a future where daily actions and economic decisions “genuinely protect” the conditions necessary for dignified human life and the health of the planet now and into the future.” To read the complete article please click here

Five Reasons Why Catholics Should Care about the COP26 Climate Summit

October 21, 2021

~ by Brian Roewe, Earth Beat, National Catholic Reporter

On October 31st the United Nations climate change summit, COP26, is set to begin in Glasgow, Scotland.

The two-week (10/31 – 11/12) has long been billed as a critical checkpoint in the global effort to limit the planet’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times – a key threshold to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change.

Scientists have said in order to keep that goal in sight, drastic cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions, at least a 45% overall reduction, need to be made this decade.

Some 20,000 delegates, and thousands more activists and advocates, are expected to attend COP26, which is being hosted by the United Kingdom along with Italy. Count many Catholics – albeit no long the pope – and religious leaders and activists among them. Catholics who will be in Glasgow say there are many reasons for people of faith to pay attention to the proceedings.

Reason # 1: Pope Francis cares (as do many faith leaders)
For more than two years, the Vatican has been preparing for COP26 and considering what contribution it could make to help ensure a successful summit. Pope Francis said he hoped the Glasgow summit “will lead to effective agreement in addressing the consequences of climate change. Now is the time to act, for we are already feeling the effects of prolonged inaction.”

Reason # 2: Paris Agreement wasn’t the end, but a beginning
In 2015, nearly every nation on Earth adopted the Paris climate accord where for the first time all countries, not just the most industrialized ones, committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. But the Paris Agreement only put the overall goals on paper; it did not include specific measure of how to get there. Much of the time since 2015 has been spent crafting the rulebook that spells out what countries can, and cannot, count in determining their emissions reductions.

Reason # 3 Catholic social teaching is on the table, especially for the poor
Name a principle of Catholic social teaching – from the dignity of every person, to solidarity and workers’ rights – and you will find it relates to the discussions at COP26, said Sr. Veronica Brand who represents the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, at the UN. “With the impact of climate change, we are talking about action on behalf of justice… We are talking about lives being threatened. We’re talking about livelihoods and the dignity of those who are most marginalized – the people who are suffering most from global warming and who have fewer resources to adapt and respond.

Reason # 4 The climate is not waiting for governments to agree
While world leaders and diplomats debate and hash out the details of the Paris Agreement, average global temperatures have continued to rise, with increasingly evident impacts. The six hottest years on record have occurred since 2015 when the Paris Agreement was reached and many parts of the world have been hit by extreme weather.

Reason # 5 The pandemic connection
Although COVID delayed the climate conference last year, many see the forced pause as an opportunity, especially for accelerating the global transition to clean energy necessary to achieve the 1.5 C target.
To read the entire article please click here

Pope Francis Makes Urgent Climate Appeal Ahead of COP26

October 6, 2021

~ by Brian Roewe, Earth Beat, National Catholic Reporter

In response to the “grave threat” of climate change, heads of the world’s major religious united at the Vatican to issue an unprecedented joint appeal to government leaders at next month’s United Nations climate summit, calling for “urgent, radical and responsible action” to drastically curb greenhouse gas emissions and for the world’s wealthiest countries to lead in health the planet.

The nearly 40 religious figures, among them Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu leaders, also pledged to increase awareness of the climate crisis and actions to address it within their own congregations.

“We are currently at a moment of opportunity and truth. We pray that our human family may unite to save our common home before it is too late,” the declaration read. “Future generations will never forgive us if we squander this precious opportunity.”

“We have inherited a garden: we must not leave a desert for our children,” the faith leaders wrote.

The joint statement, issued October 4th, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, outlined the expectations of the world’s major religions – representing about half the global population – for the COP26 U.N. climate conference set for November 1-12 in Glasgow, Scotland.

We plead with the international community, gathered at COP26, to take speedy, responsible and shared action to safeguard, restore and heal our wounded humanity and the home entrusted to our stewardship,” the faith declaration said. We appeal to everyone on the planet to join us on this common journey, knowing well what we can achieve depends not only on opportunities and resources, but also on hope, courage, solidarity and good will.”

Climate negotiators have said Francis’ encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ on Care for our Common Home,” along with statements from other faith leaders and the world’s bishops had a positive influence on COP21 in 2015. The hope is that his new inter-religious appeal will yield similar results in Glasgow.

Healthy Planet, Healthy People Petition

September 15, 2021

Laudato Si movement wants to send this Catholic Petition [see link below] with 1.5 million signatures from around the Globe to 2 United Nations conferences coming up, hoping for 20,000 signatures from the United States.

As of Sunday, they have collected 2,000 from the U.S.

Please support this grassroots effort and sign this petition to be presented at the Cop 26 and spread the word to your organizations and communities: https://thecatholicpetition.org

On Earth Day, U.S. Bishops Call Upon Catholics to do Their Part

April 21, 2021

On Earth Day, U.S. Bishops
call upon Catholics
to do their part
~ by Brian Rowe, National Catholic Reporter

In the days leading up to Earth Day, several U.S. bishops took to church pulpits and Zoom rooms to call Catholics to do their part in ushering in the societal changes needed to counter climate change and other ecological calamities – and not just on days like Earth Day.

Three bishops over four days spoke out on the need for more than technology and policy to stunt rising global temperatures and slow destruction of ecosystems and species, saying there must be changes in lifestyles and even how living a good life is defined.

Next month, the Vatican is set to launch its Laudato Si’ Action Platform, a global grassroots effort to galvanize wider portions of the Catholic Church to work toward sustainability in the mold outlined in his 2015 encyclical.

Vatican officials have called the worldwide rebuilding effort from the coronavirus pandemic as the opportunity to reorient the globe toward a more just and sustainable future. To read the full account, please click here

Human Selfishness is Creating Millions of Climate Change Refugees

April 21, 2021

Human Selfishness is Creating Millions

of Climate Change Refugees

~ by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Whether people admit it or not, climate change and environmental destruction are forcing millions from their homes, and Catholics have a responsibility to assist them Pope Francis wrote in the preface to a new document.

“When people are driven out because their local environment has become uninhabitable, it might look like a process of nature, something inevitable,” the Pope wrote. “Yet the deteriorating climate is very often the result of poor choices and destructive activity, of selfishness and neglect, that set humankind at odds with creation, our common home.”

The papal preface appears in “Pastoral Orientations on Climate Displaced People.” A document released March 30 by the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

In addition to offering parishes, dioceses and national bishops’ conferences suggestions for offering pastoral care to people forced to move because of rising sea levels, desertification and increasingly strong storms, the document encourages Catholics to study and track climate change and to change their lifestyles to help mitigate some of its effects.

“The climate crisis has been unfolding since the Industrial Revolution,” Pope Francis wrote. “For a long time, it developed so slowly that it remained imperceptible except to a very few clairvoyants.”

“Even now it is uneven in its impact: climate change happens everywhere, but the greatest pain is felt by those who have contributed least to it,” the Pope wrote. “The huge and increasing numbers [of people] displaced by climate crises are fast becoming a great emergency.”

Responding to the needs of people displaced within their home countries or forced to migrate because of climate related catastrophes is “at the heart of being a credible and witnessing church, a caring and inclusive ecclesial community,” the document said.

Many people either do not know about the human cost of climate change or refuse to believe it, the text said. “Blindness about these issues is widespread and its causes are mainly: a) plain ignorance; b) indifference and selfishness vis-à-vis phenomena that endanger the common good; c) the purposeful denial of reality to protect vested interests; d) misunderstanding.”

“God give the means to see, but human beings must be willing to journey from blindness to awareness,” the document said, which is why many of the suggestions in the text involve education at all levels of the church, ecumenical and inter-religious cooperation in sensitizing people to the issues and in responding to the needs of people displaced by climate crises and listening to and advocating for the real needs of displace people and those threatened with displacement.

To read the complete article please click here

Immigration Advocates Call on Biden to Address Border Crisis

March 18, 2021

~ by J.D. Long-Garcia AMERICA Magazine

Some things have changed on the southern border, but a lot of things remain the same, according to Catholic humanitarian groups on the ground.

The Biden administration last month began processing the asylum applications of migrants under the current Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a policy of the previous administration that empowered immigration officials to return thousands of asylum seekers to Mexico to await court decisions in the immigration court system. The highest concentration of migrants have been waiting in Ciudad Juarez, just south of El Paso. Texas

Dylan Corbett, the Executive Director of the Hope Border Institute, has noted an increase in the number of unaccompanied minors in the area. “The United States is obligated to receive, to ensure their safety and to keep them in the least restrictive setting possible – and to reunite them with their families of sponsors in other parts of the country,” h e said. But because of the overload at the border, some minors are exceeding a 72 hour court-mandated limit for detention with the Border Patrol.

Families with children are also showing up at the border in El Paso. “For the most part, nobody is being allowed [into the U.S.] through this sector, except for folks who are cleared for return under MPP or unaccompanied minors,” Mr. Corbett said.

The changes to MPP, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, let to a lot of confusion among immigrants and asylum seekers south of the border, according to Rev. Pat Murphy, Director of the Casa del Migrante shelter in Tijuana.

“All they heard was [that] the border was open, that asylum was open, when in fact it was only for those who have been on ‘Remain in Mexico’ for the last two years,” the Scalabrinian priest, said. “They think that being there, the government is just going to say, ‘O.K., just come on in.” But, they’re not going to say that,” he said.

There is a lot of misinformation, and sometimes that misinformation is done purposefully by the coyotes [human traffickers] in the south, and they say, ‘Go to the border; go north. If you go to the border and wait in line, they let you in,” Fr. Murphy said. “The desperation of the people is moving them to do anything.” But, the Biden administration has yet to open the border to asylum seekers.

In the Mexican city of Nogales, Sara Ritchie of the Kino Border Initiative said they are also experience an increase in the number of migrants. Asylum seekers in border campus and vulnerable people seeking to flee Central America “have been enduring the pandemic for a year,” Ms. Ritchie said. Many of them have been out of work and cannot “sustain being unemployed” any longer, their poverty making them especially susceptible to pressure and threats from criminal gangs.

While she knows that MPP cases area being processed in California and Texas, she said few if any are being processed in Arizona.

Father Murphy expects changes to immigration and asylum policies will not come quickly.

“Biden can’t overturn everything in a month or so,” he said. It’s going to be a long haul process. Biden is going to get it from both sides. The people on the ground are going to want him to move really quickly and the people who are anti-immigrant are going to say he’s moving too quickly.”

But the immigration crisis is not going away.

“The reality is that migrants are going to continue to come to the U.S.-Mexico border fleeing a toxic cocktail of causes, whether it’s climate change, or it’s political instability or violence or unemployment and the effects of the COVID crisis, or the hurricanes that recently hit Central America,” Mr. Corbett said.

It is a time for the Catholic Church to step up its efforts, he said. “We need the moral voice of the church right now to make the case to the nation and our policy makers that this is about welcoming Christ in the stranger.”

To read the complete article click here