What do you think about the Pope's stance on the environment?

Question

SYDNEY, Australia - The world's natural resources are being squandered in the pursuit of "insatiable consumption," Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday in a speech urging followers to care more for the environment and reconnect with the principle of peace.

Benedict, speaking to more than 200,000 pilgrims gathered for the Roman Catholic church's youth festival, expanded on a theme that has led him to be dubbed "the green pope." The crowd, massed on a disused wharf in Australia's largest city, regularly erupted in cheers that gave the event the feel of a sporting event.

"Some of you come from island nations whose very existence is threatened by rising water levels; others from nations suffering the effects of devastating drought," the pope said, referring to global warming.

He noted that during his more than 20-hour flight from Rome to Sydney he had a bird's eye view of a vast swath of the world that inspired awe and introspection.

Answer 1

This standard Church teach and is nothing new.

The Catholic Church has taught about protecting God's creation for a long time.

Here are a couple of recent examples:

Declaration on the Environment. Signed by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on June 10, 2002: http://conservation.catholic.org/declara...

Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation, Pope John Paul II, World Peace Day, January 1, 1990: http://conservation.catholic.org/ecologi...

This Land is Home to Me: A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Appalachia, 1975: http://www.catholicconferencewv.org/pdf/...

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Very noble, but somewhat ineffectual, since people are not going to change their ways because the Pope is for caring for the environment. The Pope no longer has the influence the office once commanded...the Vatican is too far removed, as is the Pope, from everyday society and is now merely a figurehead.

Answer 3

Very appropriate.  A theologian expressing his opinion insofar as the religion of AGW.

Wait a minute!  Wasn't Al Gore also a divinity student??

Hmmmm.............. I wonder who is going to spout off next..... Jimmy Swaggart??

Answer 4

I think the head of the Church of Rome is buying into the long-since-discredited ideas of the Club of Rome.

Catholicism is supposed to be focused on human life - - I thought he would recognize that, as Julian Simon noted, humanity is "the ultimate resource."

Answer 5

It's a wonderfully refreshing change and I wish him all the best. It took the church three centuries to admit that Galileo was right, a century and a half for Darwin. By contrast, this is almost an immediate response and I hope the trend continues.

Answer 6

I think he is a hypocrite on the environment. He has a huge carbon footprint for a single man with no dependent children (well at least none that we know of).

Still it's not surprising. I think he is a hypocrite about everything else too.

Answer 7

The Pope is in a great place to discuss one of the associated issues, population growth.  Unless he is discussing that issue alongside his comments above -- which are commendable, but fall short -- his words are little more than lip service.  Still, it is wonderful that he is choosing to put this issue before his church.

I hadn't paid much attention to Pope Benedict XVI until these comments.  I guess a bit more attention is due.  Perhaps the Catholic Church is attempting to reassess some of their doctrine regarding birth control.

Answer 8

Anything is possible; better than nothing.  

Have you read "The Last hours of the Ancient Sunlight" or "A New Earth"?  There are some startling insights into the origin of our theism.

It's possible to show, with a slight but profound change in interpretation, that our religions as originally conceived are fundamentally incompatible and at odds with our current unsustainable civilization - the direct result of that misinterpretation.  

The original message was lost.  Maybe its been there but we don't see it.  Maybe Benedict has found it again.  

As already mentioned, there's just one more step to take.

Answer 9

Go Pontiff! ra ra ra!

edit; but agree with wot amy said about population, the other half of this half of the equation.