Laudato Si’
Pope Francis’ new encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, enshrines familiar criticisms of racism and borders
By Claire Giangravé — October 4, 2020
(RNS) — Braving a renewal of the criticism he got for allegedly pushing a socialist political agenda in his 2015 encyclical, Francis questions the West's attention to private property.
Five things to look for in Pope Francis’ new encyclical, ‘Fratelli Tutti’
By Thomas Reese — October 4, 2020
(RNS) — ‘Fratelli Tutti’ (‘Brothers and sisters all’), the new papal encyclical is an important teaching document that must be read by anyone who wants to know where the pope is coming from.
Pope Francis makes a heartfelt appeal for the environment: ‘Creation is groaning!’
By Claire Giangravé — September 1, 2020
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — 'We are running out of time,' the pope said in a message on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Sept. 1).
In ‘love thy neighbor’ Quakers and Catholics share a call to protect our common home
By Diane Randall and Alicia Cannon — June 22, 2020
(RNS) — Celebrating Pope Francis' Laudato Si, published five years ago, and its message that loving our planet first means loving its people.
With new document, Vatican implements practical steps for environmental sustainability
By Claire Giangravé — June 18, 2020
(RNS) — From promoting environmental studies in schools and universities to eliminating pesticide use at the Vatican, the new document offers an ambitious plan to encourage sustainability around the world.
Greta Thunberg, a prophet for Advent
By Thomas Reese — December 17, 2019
(RNS) — Thunberg has suffered the same scorn and attacks heaped on other prophets of hope by the powerful and rich.
Pope Francis wants you to set up a Nativity scene to fight banal consumer Christmas
By Claire Giangravé — December 5, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — This year’s Christmas display incorporates fallen trees collected from more than 100,000 acres of land ravaged by a severe storm that hit northern Italy last year.
What the US bishops can learn from the Amazon synod
By Thomas Reese — October 31, 2019
(RNS) — The American Catholic hierarchy isn't ready to follow the synod's search for real-world solutions. Too many conservatives believe that if we simply return to the old ways of doing things, everything will be fine.
Saving Amazon rainforest requires change in Western lifestyles, say synod bishops
By Thomas Reese — October 22, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The West 'wants the Amazonian people to keep the forest,' said Bishop Karel Martinus Choennie of Suriname, 'but they don’t want to change their lifestyles, and that is the big contradiction.'
Amazonian bishops condemn attacks on rainforest and indigenous peoples
By Thomas Reese — October 10, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Amazonian bishops took the floor at the synod in Rome this week to describe their region's problems in urgent, even personal terms.
2/3 of Amazon bishops support married priests, says Brazil bishop
By Claire Giangravé — October 9, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — According to one Brazilian bishop attending the Vatican summit on the Amazon region, a majority of Brazilian bishops are in favor of allowing the ordination of married men to the priesthood.
New cardinals: The men are the message
By Thomas Reese — September 12, 2019
(RNS) — By making these men cardinals, the pope is handing them megaphones.
Pope Francis to address conflict, climate in Africa in three-country visit
By Claire Giangravé — September 3, 2019
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A top Vatican official described Africa as 'a laboratory for integral development' — a term that in this papacy refers to a sustainable society based on precepts in a 2015 papal encyclical on the environment.
Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ v. the Green New Deal
By Charles C. Camosy — April 26, 2019
(RNS) — Legislation can't force an unwilling public to make the dramatic adjustments needed to save the planet. Instead, we should heed the pope's call for a fundamental change of life, like that of the saint he is named after.
Fixing climate change will require a culture change
By Charles C. Camosy — April 15, 2019
(RNS) — Pope Francis knows our primary focus on climate change must be to change human hearts — not unserious new deals or widely ignored climate accords.
