It all began in 2015 after Pope Francis published his encyclical about environmental care, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Their activism has gradually grown over the years.

"When he came out with this as one of his first things, I thought that was just so powerful. I was terribly excited," said Kathy Gosh, 75. "I just had hope. It kind of gave me a sense of hope that we could help prevent the damage we were doing."

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The document can be seen as a counterpart to Pope Francis' groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si', launched nine years ago.

Al-Mizan, announced on February 27 during the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, offers a Muslim perspective on addressing global ecological challenges.

Leila Benali, president of UNEA-6 and Morocco's minister for energy transition and sustainable development, described the document as perfectly aligned with global efforts to tackle environmental crises.

"Al-Mizan … acknowledges the severity of the triple crises, including pollution, including climate change, including biodiversity loss, nature and also injustice in sharing the resources of life" said Benali.

Meaning 'balance' in English, Al-Mizan emphasises restoring ecological equilibrium and preserving the planet for future generations.

"Environmentalism is deeply embedded in the veins of Islam.

"It is about personal behaviour and how it manifests itself in our association with others and also about being considerate in our relationship with the natural world and other sentient beings" said a UN statement.

Al-Mizan, the announcement said, is based on Quranic principles of encouraging public good, forbidding wrong action and acting in moderation.

The UNEP's Faith for Earth Coalition assembled Al-Mizan.

Scholars and members of leading Islamic organisations, including the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, drafted the document.

Parallels with Laudato Si'

Christian leaders have noted the parallels between Al-Mizan and Pope Francis' Laudato Si'.

"In many ways, Al-Mizan is the Islamic equivalent to Laudato Si', the encyclical of Pope Francis and, more recently, the Laudate Deum, a follow-up document." Catholic Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, the apostolic nuncio in Kenya and South Sudan, said this to those gathered for the announcement.

"Al-Mizan is therefore not only about a balanced and equitable approach to nature, but its very method is also a beautiful witness to a balanced dialogue between faith and reason.

"These two do not exclude each other … but rather are complementary to each other as the document abundantly shows" added van Megen.

Sources

Religion News Service

UN Environment Programme

CathNews New Zealand

Demonstrators, citing Pope Francis' environmental writings, took the floor during the service led by Archbishop Roberto Repole.

Extinction Rebellion characterises itself as a nonpartisan movement. The group employs nonviolent methods to push for government action on climate and ecological emergencies.

According to reports from the Italian newspaper La Republicca, activists rose during the moments preceding the homily. They read excerpts from Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' and his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum.

Both documents underscore humanity's role as custodians of the environment amidst the challenge of climate change.

Video footage shows the protesters reading from the pontiff's works while Archbishop Repole looked on. Other clergy members appeared to worshippers to allow the protestors to speak.

Quoting from Laudato Si', the activists echoed Francis' call for an inclusive conversation acknowledging the widespread impact of the environmental crisis.

Pope's stance on climate change

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion told CNA that the organisation "[does] not have a headquarters nor do we have a central decision-making body.

"As groups do not have to seek ‘permission' to stage protests, very often we do not know what actions are taken globally" the spokesperson said.

In a statement on their website, the Italian chapter of Extinction Rebellion justified the disruption as a means to draw attention to the Pope's stance on the climate crisis. It asserted they aimed to prompt reflection among the faithful.

Archbishop Repole appreciated those advocating for environmental protection but regretted the lack of prior communication.

"I would have replied that at Mass we often pray for peace and for the preservation of creation. But the Eucharistic celebration is not a suitable time to host public interventions" he said.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

Guilherme Peixoto (pictured) blends faith with electronic dance music as a DJ priest.

"Padre Guilherme says, ‘If we can't bring them to church, we'll bring the church to them'" said Silvana Pontes.

She acknowledges that while most who patronise Ar de Rock don't go to Mass, some become curious enough to ask about worship times.

Outreach found by accident

What began as a fundraising venture for local churches nearly two decades ago has now become an integral part of the ministry of 49-year-old Peixoto.

Peixoto recently gained global recognition when he was invited to DJ at World Youth Day in Lisbon.

Mixing a dance beat with clips of papal speeches, he delivered a compelling message to an estimated 1.5 million faithful.

His innovative approach aims to bridge the gap between the Church and a younger generation that is increasingly disengaged from traditional religious practices.

"With electronic music, I can take some message. I can be where young people are" Peixoto said a few days after returning to his village, Laúndos, from playing at a large Halloween festival in Italy.

"They can think, 'If it's possible for a priest to be a DJ, it's possible for me to like music and festivals, and be Christian.'"

Peixoto's journey into music began as a response to financial challenges faced by his cash-strapped parish.

He introduced karaoke fundraisers, later transitioning to rock sets on his laptop. The success of these events not only cleared debts but also funded church renovations.

Dancing to Laudato Si'

Today, his DJ sets at the open-air club "Ar de Rock" have become a norm for the community.

"The people are dancing with sentences from ‘Laudato Si','" Peixoto chuckled.

"It's not so much — two-three sentences from the Pope — but if I wasn't there, it's no sentence.

"It's like a small seed, and the Holy Spirit will do his work.

"In the beginning, it was strange but now it's the norm."

They understood the priest is also a person" said Tania Campos, the parish secretary who has been fielding an increasing number of enquiries from post-World Youth Day fans.

Peixoto plans to continue improving his DJ skills to bring a Christian message to audiences who might never have heard of Jesus. At the same time, he remains committed to all regular parish activities.

"It's very important to me not only to be the DJ priest, but be the shepherd of the community," Peixoto said.

"The world is not so closed to Jesus. But you need to speak the language."

Sources

US News

America Magazine

We also excel at something less praiseworthy: producing excessive emissions which damage the environment.

However, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is gloomy about the country's response to climate change and in its latest 'advocacy newsletter,' and pricks at New Zealanders' consciences.

It points out that New Zealand ranks fifth-highest in emissions per capita among industrialised countries.

Pope concerned

Caritas's concerns about responding to the climate emergency are at the forefront of Pope Francis's mind.

In his most recent apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum, Francis laid out some telling statistics.

He says in 2019, the bottom 50 percent of the world's population was responsible for just 12 percent of global emissions. At the same time, the top 10 percent accounted for 48 percent of emissions.

Call to action

Caritas says, assuming resources and opportunities should be allocated to where they are needed, a change is needed.

It suggests emissions reductions should focus more on high-emitting countries - like New Zealand.

"Climate action across the globe has been grossly inadequate, and it is utter hypocrisy of us to lay the blame at the feet of poorer countries while we have some of the highest emissions per person of any country", Caritas says.

"Social Justice demands New Zealand shoulder its rightful burden.

"It should not further weigh down nations that already emit the least, such as its Pacific Island neighbours."

Personal change brings hope

Underscoring the importance of each of us making a personal change, Caritas says despite the grim outlook, Pope Francis offers messages of hope and pragmatism.

Francis emphasises that even small reductions in global warming can have a profound impact, sparing countless individuals from future hardship and suffering.

"Every little bit helps, and avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people.

"Yet what is important is something less quantitative: the need to realise that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes."

Furthermore, writes Francis, our individual actions can inspire communities, which in turn can influence nations.

Source

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand

He made the surprise announcement in a brief, unprepared addition in a speech to a group of lawyers from the Council of Europe countries.

In 2015, Francis wrote Laudato Si (Praised Be), a major document on the need to protect the environment, face the dangers and challenges of climate change and reduce the use of fossil fuels. An encyclical is the highest form of papal writing.

"I am writing a second part to Laudato Si to bring it up to date with current problems," Francis told the group without elaborating.

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Laudato Si' is medieval Italian for "Praise be to you."

It is a quote from St. Francis of Assisi's beautiful Canticle of the Creatures: "Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs."

Pope Francis, who took his papal name from St Francis, continues to be deeply inspired by this patron saint of ecology. So much so, that in 2015 he wrote the first ever environmental encyclical letter titled "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home."

"St Francis of Assisi reminds us," writes the pope, "that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. …

"This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will."

Pope Francis explains, "Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, construction and demolition sites, clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is becoming increasingly like an immense pile of filth."

The Holy Father then weighs in on climate change.

Ignoring the weak scientific claims of those who deny the climate is changing and that the earth is warming - due principally to human pollution. He writes, "A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system."

Indeed, the scientific consensus is very solid.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), "97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities."

"The problem is dangerously aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels" - that is coal, oil, and gas.

The pope urgently calls for global conversion from the use of these fossil fuels to "clean renewable energy" - wind, solar and geothermal.

Francis astutely observes that living comfortable lifestyles far removed from the poor, often leads to a "numbing of conscience" and to a cold, impersonal analysis.

"At times this attitude exists side by side with a ‘green rhetoric.'

"Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor."

Observing the connection between the degradation of the environment and war, Francis writes, "It is foreseeable that, once certain resources have been depleted, the scene will be set for new wars."

The earth and humanity are in trouble.

The dangers of climate change and accompanying global warming are nothing to take lightly. The scientific evidence is overwhelming. We don't have much time left to wake up.

Therefore, this all makes Laudato Si' Week a week that should not be ignored. Let's commit to celebrating it as soon as possible.

Watch the moving film featuring Pope Francis called "The Letter: A message for our Earth"

Share Pope Francis' Laudato Si'.

Pray with the Laudato Si' Prayer Book.

Become a Laudato Si' animator.

Pick up the challenge: read the encyclical. It will inspire.

• Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.

Known to many as 'Pa Ropata', McGowan is this year's University of Waikato Medal recipient.

The award recognises community service at a local or regional level.

"Rob has made a significant and sustained contribution to regenerating degraded land and streams and to educating others in protecting Aotearoa's indigenous ecosystems," said Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley.

"For his long-standing contributions, I am very pleased to award him the University of Waikato Medal."

McGovern has spent his career "helping regenerate our biodiversity and educating others about our native ecosystems and how to protect them," Professor Alister Jones, representing Quigley, said at the award ceremony.

Learning about healing

McGowan wants all New Zealanders to be more connected to the land - the trees, plants, birds and animals. It's been his mission for decades.

Now more than ever, we need to pay attention to what we're doing to Mother Earth, he says.

"Heal the land, and you heal the people." He's known that since he was a nipper.

His Dalmatian immigrant mother used traditional plants and herbs for wellness and well-being. Watching her sparked his lifetime interest in the New Zealand bush and healing.

It also drew him to treat the whole person, the physical, mental and spiritual (wairua).

McGowan's first vocation as a priest also contributed to his career as a healer.

When the Catholic church sent him to Whanganui to learn te reo, with support from local Maori, McGowan was able to hone his skills in traditional Maori medicine.

While he could identify and name many plants, it took a while to "join the dots", and understand and learn Maori concepts involving mauri (life force) tikanga, wairua and rongoa.

"It's not just about fixing the sick, it's about giving them hope, and they will learn to be well," he says.

Service to others

Serving people and healing the land encapsulates McGovern's life's work to date. He

• is a Maori health strategy consultant for the Bay of Plenty District Health Board
• travels the country training people in rongoa Maori. He struggles to keep up with the hunger for the knowledge, but he is glad as it's "meeting people's needs," he says.
• is a co-founding member of Tane's Tree Trust (1999)
• is a long-standing member of DOCs Nga Whenua Rahui unit, protecting indigenous ecosystems on Maori-owned land
• has spent 30 years teaching rongoa Maori
• teaches people how to find the plants they need in the bush and collect them without damaging the plant
• teaches rongoa Maori tikanga
• planted a rongoa garden at home to help students learn plant identification
• helps run a small nursery for the Waitao Landcare Group.
• has written Rongoa Maori - a Practical Guide to Traditional Maori Medicine
• is a former chair of the Bay of Plenty Conservation Board, the Kaimai-Mamaku Catchments Forum founding chair and a New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists life member
• championed Tiwaiwaka, six principles which create a philosophy for our approach to life and restoration of our natural world.

Source

• University of Waikato
• University of Waikato
• University of Waikato
• University of Waikato

The bottles contained samples of their stream water for testing by Massey University scientists. They were there to test for nitrogen and phosphorus levels and to talk to the farmers about their water results.

After an opening karakia led by Anthony Tipene Matua, the attendees were welcomed by Justin King. King is a Takapau farmer and chairman of the Maharakeke and Porangahau Catchment Group. Read more

There it spins, a beautiful blue marble wrapped in swirling white clouds, luminous against the black background of endless space.

We, humans, live here, as do millions of other species on and under the solid land, in the fresh and salty waters, and in the air above our heads. In fact, this is the only place where life exists, as far as we know to date.

From here, we can look out and see other places, planets and stars as our ancestors did, and now with amazing new telescopes, we can see ancient galaxies, billions and billions of them.

Perhaps someday, creatures from Earth will live elsewhere. But for now and always, Earth is our home planet.

Today's awful, undeniable reality is that Earth is in trouble.

Due to human action and inaction, the planet is warming.

Severe droughts, wildfires, floods and storms are wreaking havoc. Hundreds if not thousands of species are rapidly becoming extinct.

The resulting damage disrupts the lives of ever more millions of people, among them those who become climate refugees.

Efforts to care for the Earth are multiplying, as seen in everything from international agreements to individual lifestyle choices.

These efforts, however, face fierce opposition from political and financial forces. And we cannot underplay indifference.

What can religions bring to the table amid this dangerous and complex scene?

Since religious traditions, at their best are bearers of wisdom about ultimate meaning and lay out a roadmap for how to live a good life, most of the world's religions have resources that can nurture ecological care.

Pope Francis put his finger on this in his 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si': Care for Our Common Home".

I would like from the outset to show how faith convictions can offer Christians, and some other believers as well, ample motivation to care for nature and for the most vulnerable of their brothers and sisters....

It is good for the world at large when we believers better recognize the ecological commitments which stem from our convictions [No. 64].

In other words, beliefs have consequences and should count for something in the practical order.

Christianity and other monotheistic faiths hold dear the belief that one living God created and loves the whole world.

This conviction holds the revolutionary potential to motivate care for the Earth. Yet it has not led many Christians to do so noticeably until recently.

An intriguing story about the 19th-century naturalist John Muir highlights the problem.

One day, when Muir was hiking in the Yosemite wilderness, he came upon a dead bear and stopped to reflect on this creature's dignity.

Here was an animal with warm blood and a heart that pumped like ours, one who was glad to feel the warm sun on his fur and for whom a good day was finding a bush filled with berries.

Later Muir wrote a bitter entry in his journal criticizing the religious folk he knew who made no room in their faith for such noble creatures.

They think they are the only ones with souls, he complained, the only ones for whom heaven is reserved. To the contrary, he wrote, "God's charity is broad enough for bears."

Is it?

Are black bears, panda bears, polar bears, golden bears loved by the Creator to the extent that in their suffering and death they are affected by God's redeeming power?

If so, where does that place us, humans, in the divine scheme of things?

Taking the bears' side, I would argue that humans need to rethink our relationship with nature.

We need to change from thinking we are "masters of the universe" to realizing we are kin with bears and all other living beings in a beloved community of creation.

I will explore this issue in three points. Continue reading

• Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.J., is a distinguished professor of theology emerita at Fordham University.

Following their spring general meeting Catholic bishops' said they were asking parishes across Ireland to give over almost a third of their grounds to nature, a process sometimes called 'rewilding'.

Environmental issues have been firmly on the Church's agenda since Pope Francis published his encyclical Laudato Si', with its subtitle 'on care for our common home', in 2015.

The Irish Church has a Laudato Si' working group and there are numerous initiatives being undertaken at diocesan and parish level across the country.

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Available on YouTube, Emmy-winner Nicholas Brown's doco is about the Pope's 2015 encyclical (letter) Laudato Sì' and how ordinary people can make his vision a reality.

Francis addressed the encyclical to "all people of good will", urging an interconnected vision for humanity and the planet.

Brown, who has directed many environment-focused documentaries, hopes the movie will encourage people.

We need to "abandon illusions of otherness and come together" to protect the environment, he says.

The Letter premiered on Tuesday - St Francis of Assisi's feast day. The pope's namesake was known for his commitment to peace, to the impoverished and to the environment.

The premiere also coincided with the day the Paris Climate Agreement accords came into effect at the Vatican.

The 80-minute feature focuses on how people at the grassroots level - rather than governments - can bring about change.

In the doco, a diverse group of climate activists, Indigenous people, scientists and faithful meet with Francis (see image) to discuss the environment.

One activist is Chief Cacique Odair "Dadá" of the Borari people. He was captured and tortured by mercenaries after he used GPS technology to expose the illegal activity of loggers who were destroying his Brazilian Amazon rainforest home.

Under the leadership of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has led Brazil since 2018, the country has been rapidly deforested. Elections in the country are currently deciding who will lead the country in the future.

"I am here in the name of the forest, in the name of the Indigenous population," said Dadá at the Vatican press conference for the premiere.

He advocated for "a new kind of politics" that protects the environment and those most affected by its destruction.

"Today we suffer the destruction of the forest firsthand," he said. "I hope that all presidents in all countries will come together to save and protect the forest."

"Voices from the peripheries are usually ignored in global summits and environmental decision-making, typically dominated by powerful corporate interests," says Cardinal Michael Czerny.

The Cardinal, who heads the Vatican Department for Promoting Integral Human Development, had grim words to say at the premiere.

Listing the "new normal" of heatwaves, hurricanes, droughts and floods that occur all over the planet, Czerny said the doco provides "a pathway" for encounter and dialogue among people.

"The film and the personal stories powerfully show that the ecological crisis has arrived and is happening now.

"The time is over for speculation, for scepticism and denial, for irresponsible populism that protects the environment and those most affected by its destruction."

The documentary's essence is to bring the Pope's letter to new audiences, says Laudato Sì' Movement president Lorna Gold. The Movement includes a network of over 900 Catholic organisations acting and lobbying for the environment.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chair Hoesung Lee was also at the premiere.

Faith and science must come together to find solutions, as "the stakes have never been higher," he says.

Source

• Religion News Service

They don't want to give up the way of life of generations before them, but they have no choice.

More than 3000 people are stuck on the shrinking, low-lying islands, waiting for the government to fund their resettlement on the mainland of Bougainville.

Rakova owns the tiny atoll of Huene in the six-island Carteret group, where land ownership is traditionally passed down through the women of the clan.

Her organisation Tulele Peisa has helped about 30 families move to land gifted to them by the Catholic church on mainland Bougainville 90 kilometres away, but 350 more families - about 70 percent of the population - need government help to move.

"We can't allow them to move and squat. We want them to move so that they can continue to sustain themselves by growing their own food crops, also growing some cash crops," Rakova says.

The Carteret Islanders depend on government rations because they can no longer grow their own food as seawater erodes the land and encroaches on their crops.

Speaking to The Detail from Bougainville where she now lives, Rakova says she worries that the government's food rationing "continues to breed a generation of people who continue to rely on supplies from the government".

She wants that money to be spent instead on buying land and relocating the families. About 30 percent of the population would remain on the islands, supported by a programme helping them to adapt to the changes.

But her people are competing against communities from other low lying atolls for government relocation funds.

"But let's face it: Carteret Islanders have wanted to move for the last 10, 12 years. It's serious for us, we need to move," says Rakova.

Rakova's story is not unique, but the true extent of the impact of climate change and how many people face dislocation in the Pacific are not known.

"Relocation is always the last resort option," says Martin de Jong, advocacy advisor for the Catholic charity Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. De Jong says even relocations of communities a few hundred metres away are fraught.

In other low-lying Pacific countries on the frontline of sea level rise such as Kiribati, people are fighting to stay. But when it comes to Carteret Islands, moving is the only option, he says. So far, Caritas and other groups have been unsuccessful in their lobbying to speed up the process.

Relocations are often supported by church groups, governments and embassies. Caritas, for example helps with small scale development projects such as a cocoa drier for the Carteret people to process cocoa beans as a cash crop.

De Jong says even those working closely with the Pacific communities do not know the extent of the impact of climate change and sea level rise.

"It is one of the frustrating things of working in the last seven or eight years on the [annual] State of the Environment for Oceania report. We hear a lot of stories of people having to move at various levels but there seems to be very little if any comprehensive assessment of how many people are moving and how many are at risk."

He says the Pacific is very often neglected when it comes to reports on issues such as climate change.

De Jong says groups like his will be pushing hard in the lead up to the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 27 in Egypt in November for "stronger, real action on addressing loss and damage with a proper financial facility and more money committed to it". Continue reading

Coming after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and border closures, it was undoubtedly a momentous occasion.

But it's also an opportunity to examine the environmental and economic impacts of these massive ships and to ask how welcome they really are.

Criticism of the cruise industry is not new, and there have been calls for global monitoring and effective legislation because of its impact on environmental and human health.

Climate change has only amplified this.

Individual cruise liners emit more CO2 than any other kind of ship. Per passenger mile, they produce at least twice the CO2 emissions of a long-haul flight.

A single ship can use up to 150 tonnes of low-grade heavy fuel oil (HFO) every day of its voyage. Combusted in a ship's huge engines, this produces particulate matter (PM) - microscopic particles that can be inhaled and lodge in lung tissue or be carried in a bloodstream.

PM is linked to various environmental harms and health problems, including reduced lung function and worsening asthma and heart disease.

A single cruise ship can produce the same daily PM emissions as a million cars, with the global cruise fleet producing the emission equivalent of 323 million cars (but with a passenger capacity of only about 581,200single-occupancy cars).

Environmental impact

And it's not just the oceans the ships cross or the ports where the vessels dock that are affected. A recent study found that standing on the deck of a cruise ship exposed passengers to air quality equivalent to a city like Beijing.

Cruise ship fuel also contains sulphur. When combusted, it creates sulphur oxide, a direct contributor to smog at ground level, acid rain at the atmospheric level, and a host of health impacts for those who breathe in the pollutant.

Pressure from environmentalists and modern technology eventually led to the installation of "scrubbers" on cruise liner smokestacks which remove most sulphur from the ship's exhaust.

However, some or all of the collected sulphur is often later disposed of into the ocean, potentially harming reefs and marine life and contributing to ocean acidification.

Cruise ships are also allowed to dump untreated sewage and heavily contaminated grey water. Billions of litres of this wastewater is discharged into the oceans each year.

Industry under scrutiny

There will always be the argument that fuel can be made cleaner, engines more efficient, or older ships replaced with battery and solar-powered vessels. However, even moderate attempts at curbing ship emissions have reportedly been opposed by industry lobbyists.

Meanwhile, the ability to re-flag a vessel to countries with lower environmental standards, access to an abundance of cheap fuel, and the cost of replacing a single ship (upwards of NZ$2.6 billion) all mean the current fleet is probably around for some time.

Environmental impact isn't the only reason the cruise industry has come under scrutiny in the past. It has been cited for poor labour practices, including low wages and bad conditions, and contributing to over-tourism.

But despite having been responsible for higher rates of disease transmission at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry appears to be bouncing back after reducing vaccination requirements for passengers.

Economic doubts

The common argument, particularly in the case of a port city like Auckland, is that cruise ships bring valuable tourist dollars to a struggling CBD. But past studies of tourist spending behaviour show cruise tourists contribute little to local economies.

Cruise ships typically spend between five and nine hours in a port, giving tourists little time to shop or dine. Rather, they are often whisked away by bus to major tourist destinations.

They don't hire hotel rooms or eat at restaurants.

According to the NZ Cruise Association, 321,590 tourists spent around $368 million nationwide (about $1,144 each) during the last pre-pandemic season from 2018 to 2019.

Overall, cruise passengers contributed about 2% of the total $17.5 billion spent that season by international tourists.

Beginning in October, the cruise season will kick into high gear, with ships arriving in Auckland every few days.

Given the significant questions around their environmental and health impacts and their relatively small contribution to the economy, are lavish welcomes like what we saw earlier this month really justified?

• Timothy Welch is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland.
• First published in The Conversation. Republished with permission.

We have all heard about global warming and seen graphs and projections of changing temperatures, but it takes a constant and sometimes torrential rain for the statistics to become a reality.

But has this anything to do with religion or should a theologian even use time in thinking about it?

Let me tell you a little story about last Sunday.

Taking his cue from the constant rain, a friend of mine preached about climate change.

His argument was a simple one.

• Look around you - we are all struggling in this rain.
• We hear every day on the news about weather records being broken with higher rainfall and, for some unfortunate people, floods that mean they need to leave their houses.
• The news headlines tell us:
  • "Insurance costs could increase as climate risk rises."
  • "Sydney has officially received more than a full year's worth of rain, and it's only April."
  • "Frightening, out of control: Nelson residents flee as river bursts."
  • Eastern Australia faces wet weather and flooding with 70% chance of third consecutive La Nina."
  • "State of Emergency declared on NZ's West Coast."
• This concerns us as Christians because we will soon profess our faith in God as the creator of all. [When we say the Creed].
• We have to see this as part of the challenge of faith today.
• If you want to know what Pope Francis is saying about this, then read Laudato si' on the web or buy a copy from the rack at the back of the church.
• It was a very short homily because attention spans contract in inverse proportion to noise of the rain pelting down on the church roof.

Surprise reaction

On Sunday evening, he rang me to tell me what happened next because it shocked and hurt him. Here's the story.

As he said farewell to people in the porch when the Eucharist was ended, he was tackled by three or four people in a group.

They told him - in quite graphical language - what they thought of his homily, his advert for anything written by 'that pope,' and their future attitude to him!

Criticism of preachers is, of course, not new - as a revered Professor of Homiletics once warned: 'If 50% of the congregation like the idea of you preaching, you can bet your bottom dollar that the other 50% dread it!'

The criticisms on Sunday evening can be summarised under three headings:

• They did not want to hear about science in a sermon; it belongs to the world and not to religion - and, anyway, how do you know it is true?
• They did not want 'social commentary' because they came to Mass to have a personal encounter with Jesus, and this annoyed them.
• If he did this again, they would withdraw their contributions; they were not going to pay someone to support 'woke' culture.

They were not as crisp as this, but I hope I have captured the kernel of what I was told they said. These are very revealing comments as they manifest in a nutshell some of the deepest spiritual problems among Christians today - and this makes them worth thinking about.

West Coast NZ

Faith and Reason

For several centuries it was a central plank of the opponents of religion that one should create a great chasm between faith [aka 'superstition'] and reason [aka 'science'] - one excluded the other!

It was left to Christians to argue that 'all wisdom comes from God' (Sir 1;1) and that no item of truth can contradict another - but it may only be from a fuller vantage point that we can understand this.

Thus, down the centuries, far from being enemies of science, Christians have seen the discovery of the complexity of the universe as an investigation of God's handiwork. What is new today among some Christians it is the notion that they would rather believe than think!

But if one has to opt for a binary of either believing or thinking, one is moving on to very dangerous ground. Here lies the road to both to silliness and to being hoodwinked by every demagogue with a Twitter account.

Rational enquiry is not a substitute for faith, but rather faith in the Creator - who is beyond our imagining - goes hand-in-hand with rational study of that which is within our vision.

Without rationality, faith becomes credulity.

Without faith, life is reduced to a swamp.

This is such a basic element of the Christian tradition - though there have always been fundamentalists - that it was rarely mentioned.

We cannot take it for granted today: even when we examine the 'things of faith' - be it doctrine, ancient texts such as those collected in the Bible, or practices - we cannot ignore the light that comes from rational enquiry and discourse.

To abandon it would be to affirm a religion that is less than our human dignity - and so a rejection of one of our unique gifts as humans: God has given us logicality, and the Logos has become us.

To isolate 'faith' from rationality may make religion (apparently) simpler and far better at providing a 'security blanket' for those who crave absolute certainty.

But it also makes Christianity indistinguishable from superstition. In assuming it can relate to God without the universe and our interaction within it, it takes God out of his creation.

It might seem pious to believe something that is the very opposite of what rational and critical evaluation leads us to affirm, but this is not a faith that is grounded in our tradition but simply a whim that opens us to every kind of extremism.

Libraries have been written on this, but the advice of St Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) still holds: if it has to be a choice between a pious confessor and a learned one, get the learned one.

Truth in its fulness is beyond this life. Even the limited truth we can attain is only achieved with the greatest effort - and we need all our faculties, especially our reason, in this quest.

Flood waters expose drains north of Nelson, New Zealand.

What are we doing when we celebrate the Eucharist?

One of the great limitations of the liturgy before the reforms of Vatican II was the need to provide simple explanations of what we were doing - or at least present at - which were accessible.

The outstanding example of this process - over-simplifying to the extent of confusion - was that "we go to Mass to meet Jesus." It was to be a private encounter, perhaps highlighted by "receiving communion."

A glance at any of the Eucharistic Prayers would show that our action - as the People of God - is to gather as disciples and then, with, through and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, to offer praise and thanksgiving to the Father.

We celebrate with Christ, in Christ, and through Christ, and our prayer is to our heavenly Father. We do this in the power of the Spirit - and thus fulfil our baptismal calling.

Again, it is so basic that we miss it and do not spell it out.

Many Catholics look shocked when they hear this and wonder when this 'latest theory' was invented. So, just in case, here are the texts in the 2011 English translation.

Eucharistic Prayer 1 - The Roman Canon

It begins
To you, therefore, most merciful Father,
we make humble prayer and
petition through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord.

It ends
Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour is yours,
for ever and ever.

Eucharistic Prayer 2

It begins
You are indeed holy, O Lord,
the fount of all holiness.
Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray,
by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall,
so that they may become for us
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It ends
Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour is yours,
for ever and ever.

Eucharistic Prayer 3

It begins
You are indeed holy, O Lord,
and all you have created
rightly gives you praise,
for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
by the power and working of the Holy Spirit,
you give life to all things and make them holy …

It ends
Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour is yours,
for ever and ever.

Eucharistic Prayer 4

It begins
We give you praise, Father most holy, for you are great
and you have fashioned all your works
in wisdom and in love.

It ends
Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour is yours,
forever and ever.

It is not a private encounter but something much greater. We move beyond our isolation into the community of faith, become the body of Christ, and then in him enter the court of heaven.

New South Wales

Who are we when we celebrate?

There was a nasty little barb in the criticism of my friend: do what we want or we will not pay you. Quite apart from the rampant atheism of the notion that even in faith, money is the bottom line, this threat shows a very defective ecclesiology.

They assume that the ministry of the Church exists to supply them with a service - in the same way the electricity company supplies me with the power for this computer. I get what I pay for and I pay for what I get!

But one is not availing of a service from another in liturgy: we are all providing a service to one another. We are a community in a common endeavour, not a clientele in an emporium.

Contributions are part of our support for the whole work of the community as a local church.

Anyone who thinks it is payment - or worse still, a cleric who thinks it is his wages - needs to ask some hard questions of themselves. We do have a paid, semi-professional ministry; maybe that is part of the problem.

In our first reference to a collection at the Eucharist - mid-second century - the money was for the poor: the presiders had not yet converted themselves into clergy.

Moreover, one of the reasons we have formally appointed teachers in the Church is that we sometimes need to be reminded of hard messages that 'upset our apple cart.'

When a presider preaches, he is not simply mouthing off a few platitudes (though it happens all too often) but bearing witness to the truth. This is one of the reasons that St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) saw a similarity between the teacher and the martyr.

Sometime in the second century, a Christian teacher - who pretended his essay was a letter from St Paul - wrote this:

proclaim God's message, be zealous in season and out of season; convince, rebuke, encourage, with the utmost patience as a teacher (2 Tim 4:2).

It is still the fundamental challenge: we must preach in season (what people like) and out of season (when it is not 'the flavour of the month'). And we might add: we need to preach in both cold seasons and heatwave seasons!

The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his' (Ps 24:1).

Should we address climate change?

After finishing the call, my friend asked if he should simply drop any mention of climate change as it was so disturbing to these people.

He felt that he should not drop it because if everyone is hearing about it in the media, they should be alerted to linking that concern to the bigger picture that is our vision as believers.

I heartily agreed! But it would be naïve to ignore the fact that there are deep-seated interests in our societies who value Christianity as simply a religious prop to their ideology - such people will always try to bully people not to raise questions.

And Pope Francis seems to be their especial bogey man.

I then suggested that he might show how that concern can be linked into the liturgy:

1. We have special texts in the sacramentary for celebrations of the Eucharist 'for productive land' and, even more relevant in floods, "May the flood of water not overflow me, Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me;" (Ps 69:15). We Christians have always been concerned about the environment - at least in theory.
2. He might use a real loaf of bread and break it and share it. The Eucharist is not an esoteric rite - it begins with that basic foodstuff. If that foodstuff is threatened by parched fields and ruined harvests, then it is not only a matter of human sympathetic concern, but of Christian loaf. A real loaf reminds us that faith is rooted in the heart of our humanity.
3. He might fill the community's cup from a bottle of ordinary wine and demonstrate how it is through the earth, through the creation, that God shows us his love and care, and gives us joy. It is from within the creation that our song of praise must well up in our thanksgiving to the Father, through Christ our Lord.

We might recall that prayer of the first communities of disciples:

We give thanks to you, our Father, for the holy vine of David, your servant, which you have made known to us. Through Jesus, your servant, to you be glory forever (Didache 9,2).

- and if you have not yet read Laudato si', then read it. You just click here!

• Thomas O'Loughlin is a presbyter of the Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and professor-emeritus of historical theology at the University of Nottingham (UK). His latest book is Discipleship and Society in the Early Churches.

Preparation for the Great Jubilee began on Nov. 10, 1994, when Pope John Paul II issued his apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (As the Third Millennium Approaches).

With the exception of businesses in Rome that expected an increase in tourism, the chief response at the time seemed to be among bishops.

During the years leading up to the celebration, every time a bishop or bishops' conference issued a statement, no matter how unimportant or what the matter, the final words were invariably a reference to the approaching Great Jubilee. Then, when the first year of the new millennium arrived (12 months early, in fact) all such statements expressed joy at the blessing.

And then it was over.

In fact, however, at the time people were more attentive to the Y2K threat that computer programs using only the final two digits of dates would be unable to distinguish between the 20th and 21st centuries and would thus wreak havoc on infrastructure, economies and businesses.

Happily, Y2K had no more impact than the Great Jubilee.

Even pastors and preachers seldom advertise papal or episcopal statements

Such is the usual fate of papal or episcopal documents, projects and exhortations. They become closing paragraphs of other documents, projects and exhortations until a new set comes along.

That probably does not disturb their authors; there is little evidence that they expect their proclamations to be read, let alone become guides for action.

Were it otherwise, they would write in words that people can understand. They would write succinctly. And they would do all in their power to ensure the dissemination of their message. They do none of those things, apparently thinking that publication is sufficient fulfilment of their ministry.

Even pastors and preachers seldom advertise papal or episcopal statements. In most cases, that is probably just as well, since the People of God have more important tasks than poring over turgid and irrelevant tomes.

Unfortunately, the result is that when a truly important document is published, there is no audience waiting for it, nor is there a system in place to disseminate it.

Such has been the case with the pronouncements of Pope Francis, starting with his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium in 2013.

Perhaps the worst case of this, bordering on the tragic, has been the 2015 encyclical Laudato si'.

Seven years ago, Pope Francis tried to bring the faith and hope of the Church to bear on the ecological crisis being endured by the Earth and every creature on it, including ourselves. He spoke of this planet as "our common home" and called for a deeper communion among us that cares for the world that is God's, not ours.

At the time, there was a flutter of response, but for the most part, the encyclical and its message have been relegated to the "final paragraph" category.

By now, we should be doing a better job of communication

Japan's bishops have tried to keep alive a commitment to the message, but the age-old lack of vehicles for effective dissemination even after translation has made Laudato si' little more than a motto.

I am not aware, for example, of sermons or educational programs meant to turn the Catholics of Japan into activists for the protection and restoration of the environment.

The Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development sponsors the Laudato Si' Action Platform, "a space for institutions, communities and families to learn and grow together as we journey towards full sustainability in the holistic spirit of integral ecology."

Have you joined it? Have you even heard of it?

The sole reason the Church exists is to communicate the Good News of God's forgiving love incarnate in Jesus Christ. By now, we should be doing a better job of communication.

But that is not the case with the Gospel nor even with messages intended to express Gospel faith today.

The world is probably already beyond crisis where the environment is concerned. Wildfires, floods, ice melt, deforestation, air and water pollution, sea rise, extinction, uglification, poverty — we have passed the crisis stage into disaster.

Making the message of Laudato si' the basis for a Christian response to the disaster is essential to maintaining the Church as a voice that can offer words of hope.

As the situation worsens — and it shall — the world will need that voice more and more. But, unless we get the message of Laudato si' spread throughout the Church, that voice will grow ever fainter.

The ecological crisis is the greatest crisis facing humanity today.

Responding to it is not simply an optional activity for activists: it is the new vocation of the entire Church. If we simply make Laudato si' a couple of words at the end of picayune pronouncements, the Church will have failed one of the greatest tests in our history.

In that case, we will deserve to be rejected by the world — and even God.

• William Grimm is a missioner and presbyter in Tokyo and is the publisher of the UCANews.com.

The research titled "US Catholic bishops' silence and denialism on climate change" was authored by Sabrina Danielsen, Daniel R DiLeo and Emily E Burke from the Department of Cultural and Social Studies, Creighton University, Omaha.

The researchers pointed out that the Catholic Church recognizes climate change as a moral issue, has called for social action, and has the institutional potential to meaningfully address climate change.

Read more

The publication of "Laudato Si'" was a landmark moment in the fight against climate change.

Secular environmentalists were encouraged to see such a prominent global leader devote one of his most powerful tools to their cause. Many American Catholics hoped the encyclical would inspire their bishops to make climate change a priority.

Almost as soon as the document was published, however, the US bishops showed signs that they would largely ignore the pope's exhortation in their teachings and action.

In 2019, we began looking at the American bishops' writings to their flocks to see what they have said about climate change and "Laudato Si'" over the previous five years.

We asked: Did the American bishops faithfully communicate church teachings on climate change before and after "Laudato Si'"?

Our research shows clearly that US Catholic bishops' communications collectively diminished the impact of the encyclical on climate change.

Our study focused on ordinary bishops: those who lead a geographic segment of the Catholic Church known as a diocese.

We compiled 12,077 columns published by these bishops in the official publications for 171 of the 178 Catholic dioceses in the U.S. from June 2014 — one year prior to "Laudato Si'" — to June 2019.

The bishops' columns are not only a matter of personal viewpoints.

Bishops have a duty to share the fullness of faith, including church teaching on climate change, with their diocese.

They also oversee buildings and lands, school curricula, investments and advocacy that could be used to help mitigate the climate crisis.

Overall, American Catholic bishops have been overwhelmingly silent about climate change.

Of the 12,077 columns we studied, only 93 (0.8%) mention climate change, global warming or their equivalent at all.

Those 93 columns come from just 53 of the 201 bishops in our data set. The other 148 (74%) never mentioned climate change in their columns.

Secondly, when the bishops did mention climate change, they distanced themselves from church teaching on this issue: 44 of the 93 columns (47%) that mention climate change do not refer to church teaching on the issue.

Of the 49 columns that do, many fail to substantively communicate the contents of church climate change teaching.

In six columns, the bishop downplayed the pope's authority to teach about climate change.

In nine columns, the bishop minimized focus on climate change within the church's broader ecological teachings.

Additionally, 29 columns do not clearly convey the bishop's personal view about the teaching.

Since silence can be a form of climate change denial, readers could interpret their bishop's silence as disagreement — and license for dissent.

When the bishops did mention climate change, they downplayed the parts of "Laudato Si'" that conflict with a conservative political identity or ideology.

Because US political conservatives have a history of denying, ignoring and sowing doubt about climate change, it's reasonable to assume that many bishops — who are recognized as becoming increasingly aligned with the Republican Party politically — may have experienced tension between their political ideology and their duty to communicate church climate change teaching.

The bishops, after all, fall into other demographics besides being faith leaders: They are by and large older, white Catholics. In 2016, 47% of U.S. bishops who responded to a survey said the conservative Fox News Channel was their primary source of cable news.

According to a recent academic study, conservative U.S. Catholics "devalued the pope's credibility on climate change" after "Laudato Si'" and appeared more guided on the issue by political ideology than by the pope's teaching.

This political ideology holds that climate change is not really happening, not caused by humans or not urgent.

Conversely in "Laudato Si'," Francis reiterated 25 years of papal teaching from St John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI that human-caused climate change is real and pressing.

Yet only 56 of 12,077 bishops' columns (0.46%) describe climate change as real or happening. Only 14 columns (0.12%) affirm the scientific consensus about climate change.

Only 29 columns (0.24%) describe climate change as urgent.

In "Laudato Si'," Francis approvingly cited scholarly analysis that growth-based, deregulated capitalism is the predominant cause of climate change.

The American bishops, however, were nearly silent about the economic causes of climate change.

Fifty-four of the 56 columns (96%) that do discuss climate change as real or happening fail to describe its economic roots — a phenomenon known as "ideological denialism."

The bishops who made mention of climate change also deviated from Francis on what to do about it.

The church teaches that internal and external actions are complementary and that social justice is essential to Christian love.

In "Laudato Si´," Francis calls for internal action (e.g., prayer and education) and external action, including social justice (e.g., political advocacy).

However, the U.S. bishops who discussed climate change emphasized internal over external action and widely ignored public policies.

Of the 93 columns that refer to climate change, 73 (78%) mention internal action.

Only 36 columns (39%) mention any external environmental action.

Only nine columns (9.7%) name a particular climate change policy such as the Paris Agreement.

Bishops' relative silence on environmental politics is especially notable since they were not silent in their columns about politics around other social issues, such as abortion, that show up only rarely in "Laudato Si'."

While Francis mentioned climate change 24 times and abortion only once, the bishops mentioned both issues with equal frequency when discussing the encyclical.

Our findings do not definitively show that U.S. Catholic bishops' conservatism was the primary cause of their silence on climate change or skewed teachings around "Laudato Si'."

Additionally, individual bishops may have addressed climate change in their dioceses in ways other than writing columns.

Nevertheless, our data found that as group, U.S. Catholic bishops were silent, denialist and biased about climate change in their official diocesan publications around "Laudato Si'."

We especially found them to be so in ways that correlate with conservative political identity.

Our findings raise questions about whether U.S. Catholic bishops will embrace the Vatican's new Laudato Si' Action Platform.

Our findings also suggest the U.S. bishops are squandering opportunities to connect with youth and young adults who as a demographic prioritize climate change and are increasingly less affiliated with religion, including Catholicism.

Bishops' silence on climate policy raises serious questions about how many U.S. bishops will support Vatican advocacy for an international climate agreement at the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference, which begins Nov. 1.

The U.S. Catholic Church has unprecedented capacity to help avoid climate catastrophe.

It also has a responsibility to address the climate emergency as an essential part of its mission.

To realise this potential and fidelity, however, individual U.S. bishops must fulfill their duty to teach the fullness of faith that includes church teaching on climate change.

• Daniel R. DiLeo is an associate professor and director of the Justice and Peace Studies Program at Creighton University.
• Sabrina Danielsen is assistant professor of sociology at Creighton.
• Emily E. Burke is a doctoral student in the joint Sociology and Community & Environmental Sociology Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• This essay is adapted from their article published in Environmental Research Letters with support from Creighton and the Louisville Institute.
• First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

"I was really energized," Burke recalled after reading the teaching document. "That message informed my time at Creighton."

She became involved in a student-led campaign to convince university trustees to divest school resources from fossil fuel companies. The work, rooted in church teaching, led school officials to announce Dec. 31, 2020, that full divestment would occur within a decade.

Burke and other students had something to celebrate and realized their generation could make a difference.

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The pastoral letter is the first one Archbishop Dermot Farrell (pictured) has released since he was installed in February. Pope Francis had announced his appointment last December.

"The purpose of this pastoral letter is to initiate a diocesan conversation about how all can contribute to the care of our common home and recognize the many dimensions attached to this challenge," the letter says.

"We are at a critical moment as a global community and so I wish to encourage all people of faith to embark on this journey to live our call to protect and care for the garden of the world."

Farrell released the letter, subtitled "The climate catastrophe - Creation's urgent call for change," on the eve of the Season of Creation - an "annual celebration of prayer and action for our common home". This year the Season runs from 1 September to 4 October. He invited the Dublin archdiocese to participate in the celebration.

"This pastoral letter, which I have titled, ‘The Cry of the Earth, the Cry of the Poor,' approaches the climate catastrophe from the perspective of faith," Farrell says.

"That is not to say, it excludes the insights and contribution of the natural sciences. On the contrary, healthy faith takes on board what God says through creation. Faith and science are not opponents; in a truly Christian view, faith and reason ... go hand in hand. God reveals himself through the world. That is the heart of our Catholic faith.

"Scientists have issued a ‘code red' not just for the environment, but for humanity itself. God now calls us, individually and collectively, to work for the good of the planet and the good of all. Let us not fool ourselves: there can be no enduring response to the cry of the earth without responding to the need for justice and dignity."

In his letter Farrell also urges parishes in the 1.1 million-strong archdiocese to sign the "Healthy Planet-Healthy People" petition, endorsed by the Holy See.

The petition, directed at the U.N. Climate Conference that will take place in Glasgow in November, calls for an agreement limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

He also invites Catholics to become involved with the Laudato Sì Prize, an archdiocesan initiative inspired by Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical.

The letter concludes with an appendix of poetry by English Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins and T.S. Eliot.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Crux Now