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from the you-put-your-religion-in-my-science dept.
The Guardian reports that following a visit in March to Tacloban, the Philippine city devastated in 2012 by typhoon Haiyan, Pope Francis plans to publish a rare encyclical on climate change and human ecology urging all Catholics to take action on moral and scientific grounds. "A papal encyclical is rare," says Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences who revealed the pope's plans when he delivered Cafod’s annual Pope Paul VI lecture. "It is among the highest levels of a pope’s authority. It will be 50 to 60 pages long; it’s a big deal." The encyclical will be sent to the world’s 5,000 Catholic bishops and 400,000 priests, who will distribute it to parishioners. Within Catholicism in recent times, an encyclical is generally used for significant issues, and is second in importance only to the highest ranking document now issued by popes, an Apostolic Constitution. “Just as humanity confronted revolutionary change in the 19th century at the time of industrialization, today we have changed the natural environment so much," says Sorondo. "If current trends continue, the century will witness unprecedented climate change and destruction of the ecosystem with tragic consequences.”
Francis’s environmental radicalism is likely to attract resistance from Vatican conservatives and in rightwing church circles, particularly in the US – where Catholic climate sceptics also include John Boehner, Republican leader of the House of Representatives and Rick Santorum, the former Republican presidential candidate. “There will always be 5-10% of people who will take offence. They are very vocal and have political clout," says Dan Misleh, director of the Catholic climate covenant. "This encyclical will threaten some people and bring joy to others. The arguments are around economics and science rather than morality." Francis will also be opposed by the powerful US evangelical movement, says Calvin Beisner, spokesman for the conservative Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation, which has declared the US environmental movement to be “un-biblical” and a false religion. “The pope should back off,” says Beisner. “The Catholic church is correct on the ethical principles but has been misled on the science. It follows that the policies the Vatican is promoting are incorrect. Our position reflects the views of millions of evangelical Christians in the US.”
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 13 2015, @05:44AM
Nothing ironic here, America is not catholic.
(Score: 2) by hoochiecoochieman on Tuesday January 13 2015, @01:40PM
Where did you get that from? [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by Pessime on Tuesday January 13 2015, @05:19PM
Probably from the same page you linked to :
Emphasis mine.
24 percent is no where near a majority, especially along side
Protestantism: Practiced mostly in the United States, where half of the population are Protestant
(Score: 2) by hoochiecoochieman on Tuesday January 13 2015, @05:43PM
The original post is a non-sequitur anyway, but let's ignore that for now.
Writing "America is not Catholic" doesn't make any sense. The majority of the population of the Americas is, in fact, Catholic. Even if by "America" you refer to the USA (which I assume you do), it's quite daft to dismiss a quarter of your population just like that.
Anyway, the sentence is out of context, is daft and comes from an AC. I'm already giving it too much importance.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 13 2015, @10:32PM
Methinks you give yourself too much importance.
(Score: 1) by TheB on Tuesday January 13 2015, @05:45PM
Technically Catholicism is the largest single denomination, but you are correct, the sum of all Protestant denominations is much larger.
There has been only one Catholic president, John F. Kennedy. The rest are almost exclusively Protestant. Atheist may not apply...
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Friday January 30 2015, @01:15AM
Anyone can be the President Of The United States but it helps greatly if you're white, male, fiercely Protestant and married. They also changed the rules a while back to exclude foreigners.
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 13 2015, @02:17PM
What does catholicism have to do with it?
The is about an organization's name being in direct contradiction to its philosophy.
It would be just as bullshit if religion wasn't even part of it.