Voices October 10, 2023
Letters: Catholics should care about climate change because it’s real
By Letters to the Editor
It is most commonly lies and propaganda that are at the root of the greatest injustices of history. We need only think of the Catholic residential school injustices of Canada or Nazi Germany prior to World War II for evidence of this.
An issue that is rightly of concern to today’s society across the globe is that of climate change. Some of the lies that we have heard on the subject include the following:
“Climate change is not happening. There’s no evidence for it.”
“Scientists are divided in their opinions on climate change.”
“Caring for the environment is bad for the economy.”
These are all lies and it is well known now that there has been an organized propaganda campaign in the media to spread them.
Climate change is real. This is the confirmed and undisputed opinion of climate scientists everywhere, based on sound scientific observation and proof. A quick search of government websites across the world will confirm this and show their commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is the single most important issue of injustice today because we’ve been tampering with nature and it’s causing irreversible effects on our planet’s atmosphere, which is what the human race relies upon to stay alive. There is far too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, causing it to overheat. The human body can only tolerate temperatures up to a certain level and so millions of people today, especially the poor, are dying or are being forced to migrate due to a lack of available farmland, due to droughts or rising seas.
At her lecture to the Royal Geographical Society in London in 2022, Professor Carmody Grey related that around 3 billion people will be affected by climate change by 2050-2060.
Addressing climate change is important for us as Catholics because, as we have seen, it is an issue of truth and justice, but also because it is an issue of sin and morality.
If we know certain actions will exacerbate climate change but we go and do them anyway, these constitute sins.
Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew agree that “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.” (Laudato Si’ 8)
I believe a Pope is the correct authority to determine what constitutes a sin. When challenged to question our immoral lifestyles, will we be like the rich young man in Mark’s Gospel and say, “I can’t possibly change,” or will we be like the people in Luke’s Gospel who came to John the Baptist to ask: “What must we do?”
The father of lies is launching his biggest attack against humanity. Are we just going to stand by, indifferent to this greatest of all injustices?
Mark Norbury
Port Moody
Bishop Robert Barron was keynote speaker during a recent American national gathering at World Youth Day. It was a very reverent gathering that featured a Eucharistic procession, adoration, praise and worship, testimony, and Bishop Barron. It was amazing hearing him speak in person alongside my fellow pilgrims. The closing words of his talk struck me most when he commented on how our society places much emphasis on “safety” and “playing it safe.”
He followed this by stating, “A religion that puts before our eyes a man pinned to a cross is not a religion placing a high priority on ‘safety.’ The saints don’t strike me as people who were really big on ‘safety.’”
To which there was much cheering as he closed with, “Find your mission, let Christ come to life in you, set your heart on fire, and then you will know who you are. Do your mission; you will find joy, and you’ll transfigure the world.”
Clare Bolan, WYD Pilgrim
Our Lady of the Assumption
I heartily endorse the Sept. 4 letter by MaryAnn Hessels regarding the position taken by retired Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary. Bishop Henry has asked the embarrassing question, “What is the truth regarding residential schools and the children who lived there?”
We need to consider how we react to negative information. Something terrible has happened but we weren’t there to witness it. Consequently, we depend on various media to clarify our knowledge. Initially we think something awful has happened. Then as these thoughts take shape, we begin to feel that something awful has happened. A third stage however occurs in which we come to believe that something awful has happened. Throughout this process we do not know, regardless of how much information has come our way.
That is precisely what has happened here. Assaulted by a truck load of misinformation on a daily basis, we have surrendered and jumped on the band wagon of those who rely on the philosophy of political correctness.
The Church needs to search for and use the truth before allowing this propaganda to become like a millstone around its neck. To condemn good sisters and priests on a wholesale basis makes us little better than educated hypocrites.
Bob Scott
Chilliwack