News Archives » Ecology
Latest NEWSBRIEF from the USG-USIG JPIC Commission March 6th, 2014
The Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation USG/UISG Secretariat has issued their Newsbrief for February 2014. The newsletter is available in English. The Spanish version will be forthcoming.
Useful resources are given for Lent and other occasions, including World Water Day, coming up on March 22nd. (Download PDF)
Prepare for Lent with Interfaith Power & Light’s Lenten Carbon Fast Calendar February 25th, 2014
Lent, just over a week away, is a time to repent, reflect, sacrifice, and listen for God. This year, have your congregation join with many others in taking on a Lenten Carbon “Fast.” Each day calls on us to take a different action and each of these actions will reduce our production of climate pollution and help to preserve God’s great gift of Creation.
May this season serve as a wake-up call to be mindful of the ways that our daily choices impact everyone, especially people living in poverty.
Download the calendar now and share it with your church to include in their Sunday bulletin!
Catholic News Service’s Fracking Series Illuminates Controversial Issue February 21st, 2014
Image Source: US EPA
Catholic News Service reporter, Dennis Sadowski, has written a series of five articles on hydraulic fracking from a faith perspective. Fracking is a complicated issue, yet Sadowski provides a clear overview of this controversial energy source while blending in environmental justice teachings of the Church.
By clicking on a title, you will be taken to the article at the Catholic News Service website:
To frack or not to frack: Debate examines America’s quest for energy
Advances in drilling technology led to fracking’s rapid expansion
Religious community chooses nature over riches of a natural gas lease
Faith motivates Catholics to speak out on gas, oil-drilling practices
Families seek recourse in lawsuits for wells considered a nuisance
Catholic voices raise moral concerns in country’s fracking debates
Earth Day 2014 Parish Resources February 21st, 2014
Photo by Christina Herman, all rights reserved
This year’s resource from Creation Justice Ministries is entitled “Water, Holy Water” and is available for free as an electronic download. The resource delves into the multitude of water issues we face and highlights the spiritual importance of this resource. Sermon tips are included. Download a copy of the resource here…
The Catholic Climate Covenant suggests that in 2014, we join tens of thousands of other Catholics who will learn about the dramatic evidence of climate change and explore Catholic teaching on climate change. This year’s Feast of St. Francis program is “Melting Ice, Mending Creation: a Catholic Approach to Climate Change.”
The program highlights the Pontifical Academy of Science’s Working Group (PAS) statement, Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene. This is combined with a “TED” talk by James Balog, the science photographer behind the documentary film Chasing Ice, who documented some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change.
In their declaration, the Pontifical Academy of Science calls on all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and by changes in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other land uses. Read the Report and the Summary (first 5 pages) of the report here.
Access the Melting Ice, Mending Creation materials here…
The Inequality Debate Heats Up! February 14th, 2014
What started out as a slogan that surfaced at the height of the Occupy movement — the 1 percent vs the 99 percent — has morphed into the hotly debated issue of inequality, especially income inequality. Across a broad spectrum ranging from Pope Francis to billionaire Tom Perkins, a variety of reflections, analysis, explanation and apologies have been offered.
The executive director of the International Monetary Fund, Ms. Christine Lagarde, entered the conversation at the macroeconomic level when she stated recently at Davos, “The gap has been widening tremendously, particularly over the last ten years and it has widened in all corners. You look at the U.S. economy. You look at the Brazilian economy. You look at some of the developing countries although to a lesser degree, but it does… that inequality has expanded.”
Read Fr. Seamus Finn’s latest blog on Huffington Post….
