Cardinal Pell questions science behind Laudato Si’

Friday, July 24th, 2015

Cardinal George Pell has seemingly criticised Pope Francis’s most recent encyclical, arguing that the Church has “no particular expertise in science”.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the cardinal appeared to distance himself from the science behind some of the statements in Laudato Si’.

In the document, released last month, Francis called for global action on climate change and criticised world leaders for not addressing the issue urgently enough.

But last week Cardinal Pell warned: “. . . [T]he Church has no particular expertise in science. The Church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters. We believe in the autonomy of science.”

Cardinal Pell did praise aspects of the encyclical, saying, ““It’s got many, many interesting elements. There are parts of it which are beautiful”.

The cardinal noted the encyclical had been “very well received” and said Francis had “beautifully set out our obligations to future generations and our obligations to the environment”.

Cardinal Pell is a known climate change sceptic.

In 2011, he clashed with the then-head of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, Greg Ayers, who said the cardinal was “misled” in his climate change views.

The same year, Cardinal Pell spoke of his “deepening suspicions” around man-made climate change during a talk an audience at Westminster Cathedral Hall in London, at an event sponsored by The Global Warming Policy Foundation.

He said then that global warming had “stopped”.

He went on: “Animals would not notice a doubling of CO2 and obviously plants would love it.”

While Pope Francis won praise from environmental activists for Laudato Si’, others have argued the pope should not be wading into the political and scientific debate.

Sources