Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

progressoid

(49,824 posts)
Fri Jun 19, 2015, 05:16 AM Jun 2015

Will Pope Francis's encyclical become his 'miracle' that saved the planet?

Pope Francis’s encyclical, subtitled Care for our Common Home, has created a global news event. The question now is whether it will become a historic news event, by galvanising real action to avert catastrophic climate change.

There’s a chance it will, for two reasons. First, the moral force the pope brings to bear may kindle that most fragile necessity: political will. Second, his declaration of the atmosphere as a common good, owned by all for all, may help settle the enduring argument about which nations have the responsibility to act. The rich owe the poor, he says.

...snip...

That is the positive case. There are numerous argument as to why the pope’s carefully timed intervention may in the end prove to be little more than a passing distraction. Of the biggest polluters – China, US, India, Russia, Japan – only the US has significant Catholic population and that is riven by partisan division. On the other hand, some south American nations have been obstructive in the global climate negotiations and may be swayed by the pope.

Some may think the pope’s moral authority is overstated, given the Catholic church’s differences with much of the modern world on contraception and homosexuality and the corrosive child abuse cover-ups. Yet Pope Francis is more often seen in a positive light than a negative one.

Only time will reveal the true impact of the encyclical on the greatest long-term challenge facing civilisation. But if the moral argument it presents moves the problem from one that “should” be tackled sometime to one that “must” be tackled now, it will have performed a remarkable act.

Perhaps one might even call it a miracle.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2015/jun/18/will-pope-franciss-encyclical-become-his-miracle-that-saved-the-planet


So, the Pope...err...ummm...wait...what?
9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Will Pope Francis's encyclical become his 'miracle' that saved the planet? (Original Post) progressoid Jun 2015 OP
"Air is good," bvf Jun 2015 #1
Subtext... NeoGreen Jun 2015 #2
Let's make this abundantly clear... AlbertCat Jun 2015 #3
IF! Curmudgeoness Jun 2015 #4
I am so freaking sick of him being lauded as some fucking liberal hero. PeaceNikki Jun 2015 #5
You know what one thing enables the climate change "skeptics" the most? trotsky Jun 2015 #6
Not without addressing edhopper Jun 2015 #7
Oh, he addressed it alright! PeaceNikki Jun 2015 #9
"Yet Pope Francis is more often seen in a positive light..." onager Jun 2015 #8

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
4. IF!
Fri Jun 19, 2015, 01:20 PM
Jun 2015

"But if the moral argument it presents moves the problem from one that “should” be tackled sometime to one that “must” be tackled now, it will have performed a remarkable act.

"Perhaps one might even call it a miracle."

IF the move is made to it must be tackled now.....waiting, waiting, waiting....

trotsky

(49,533 posts)
6. You know what one thing enables the climate change "skeptics" the most?
Fri Jun 19, 2015, 03:52 PM
Jun 2015

This notion that "other ways of knowing" are just as good (if not BETTER) than science. I.e., the substance of the main stuff Pope Frank peddles.

Shall we also discuss overpopulation and its impact on resource/energy consumption? And perhaps the Catholic stance on population control?

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Atheists & Agnostics»Will Pope Francis's encyc...