Corporate America and U.S. Catholic politicians seem to be on a collision course with the Vatican State and Eastern Orthodoxy.
On Thursday, June 18, 2015, the Vatican will release a 190 plus page document, as a letter (a.k.a. an encyclical) from the head of the Roman Catholic church to everybody on the planet.
Three days before its official release, however, an unauthorized draft copy was published in an Italian magazine, L’Espresso.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on June 15, 2015,
“In the draft, the pope wades into the debate over climate change, writing of a “very consistent scientific consensus that we are in the presence of an alarming warming of the climactic system.”
And the WSJ added,
“The pope wrote that powerful economic and political interests seek to “mask the problems or hide the symptoms …” But he warned that global warming could worsen “if we continue with the current models of production and consumption.”
Harsher Yet
In far blunter terms, the Catholic site, Crux, wrote,
Catholic Cardinal Rodríguez
“Pope Francis’ closest cardinal advisor … blasted “movements in the United States” hostile to the pontiff’s forthcoming document on the environment.”
According to Crux, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, “coordinator of a group of nine cardinals that serves as Pope Francis’ informal cabinet,” had this to say about American business interests,
“The ideology surrounding environmental issues is too tied to a capitalism that doesn’t want to stop ruining the environment because they don’t want to give up their profits”.
And, the Mashable news site remarked on June 15, 2015,
“The encyclical may also have profound impacts on U.S. politics, with the 2016 presidential race kicking into higher gear, with three prominent Catholic Republican candidates — Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum.”
No doubt, this is because all 3 are thought to have views on climate change that contrast with the official position of Rome.
July 18, 2015 – UPDATE
Encyclical Introduction
Five individuals served as panelists at Thursday’s press conference — a cardinal who heads the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, a German science professor and Founding Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the CEO and president of Catholic Relief Services and former dean of the Mendoza College of Business at America’s University of Notre Dame, a local teacher for 20 years, plus the Eastern Orthodox church Metropolitan Bishop of Pergamon.
In certain circles, the most controversial words in the encyclical are those in chapter 5 under point 175 — “… there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor … John XXIII indicated some years ago”.
A few paragraphs earlier, under point 173, the letter also contained the statement, “Relations between states must be respectful of each other’s sovereignty.”
So, some read into chapter 5 merely a much needed call for a somewhat stronger UN, or perhaps an new 21st century version of it, able to resolve critical worldwide climate care issues. And, others see it as a subtle push for something a bit more threatening.
Photo Credits: Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk
Read the Wall Street Journal article here (subscription required)
Read Mashable’s article here
