Ecology and Roman Catholicism (Outside Reading)

            For one of my reading posts, I will look at the ecological views of the present Roman Catholic Church. As the head and representative of their church, Pope Francis will be my primary resource in looking at how this religion views ecological concerns. Like Patriarch Bartholomew of Eastern Orthodoxy, Pope Francis views climate change as the number one ecological problem today. The Pope sent out a papal encyclical to all bishops in the world concerning the issue of climate change; this is significant because it is one of the most significant things the Pope can do. This is similar to the Papal Bull except the Bull is a more of a legal pronouncement. Also due to this, the Pope visited the US congress to give a speech on the importance of fighting climate change. The Pope has gone so far as to say God always forgives but nature never forgives, and he has said that a Christian who does not care for the environment is a Christian who is not concerned with God’s work. Similarly to Patriarch Bartholomew, Pope Francis believes that the main cause on man’s end is greed. We have decided to ease our own lives by taking carelessly from the earth’s life. Overall, I tend to agree with many of Francis’ comments; he makes some good points about Christian’s having a sacred duty to care for the earth because it is God’s handiwork.