UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
One cannot follow Pope Francis closely without noticing he sometimes says one thing one day (he “winks”), then days later he acts differently (he “nods”). As far back as four decades ago, his two tortured Jesuit teachers reportedly complained bitterly they, in effect, were given assurances of protection one day that he seemed to violate the next. The pope’s most visible recent example of “winkling and nodding” was his Christmas party public critique of his Vatican bureaucracy, with Cardinals Bernard Law and Raymond Burke prominently in attendance. Good theater, but little else. Similar “winks & nods” have occurred on condemning “trickle down” economics, on holding bishops accountable for protecting priest child abusers, on respecting women as equals and on treating gay Catholics in a Christian manner.
The latest “wink & nod” that has major implications for poor children and women appears to be coming on climate/global warming. The pope’s long-anticipated encyclical on climate change is now being translated into several languages for release in June, according to press reports.
Please see my related remarks, “The Crisis Pope Francis Faces“, “Two Cardinals’ Aide’s Crime Upheld Yet Philly Visit Is Still On?” , “What Do We Now Know About The Real Goal Of Pope Francis?” , “Francis’ Breeding Policy Fails Kids, Women & Gay Folks“, “Pope’s “Messes”: Philly, Climate, Kids & Now Hillary“, “Pope’s Fix For Street Child Woes: More Babies ?“, “Childless Pope Faces Man-Made “Mess”: Children & Climate Change” , “Vatican Revolt Negates Synod & Sex Commission” , “Hillary Clinton vs. Pope Francis in 2015 USA Politics“, “A Pope, A New US War, Jeb Bush Neocons & Big Oil” , and “Finn’s Law: Police Must Now Handle Crimes Says Pope“.
As Jesuit educated and highly respected investigative reporter, Jason Berry, recently pointed out, Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, who helped draft parts of this papal encyclical as president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace, reportedly said, “So when Pope Francis says that destroying the environment is a grave sin; when he says that it is not large families that cause poverty but an economic culture that puts money and profit ahead of people; when he says that we cannot save the environment without also addressing the profound injustices in the distribution of the good of the earth… He is … restating ancient Biblical teaching.” Of course, large families often contribute to poverty, as self interested childless celibates like Turkson and the pope refuse to acknowledge.
Yet as AP’s balanced Vatican reporter, Nicole Winfield, indicated about a recent Vatican conference of Nobel Prize-winning scientists, Francis’ key environmental advisers and faith leaders, they were unanimous in agreeing that climate change is real, mostly man-made, hardest on the poorest, and a problem that only collective action can solve.
Of course, many US Republicans, who have benefited from Vatican and US bishops’ political support, have opposed efforts to reduce fossil fuels and other pollutants that contribute to global warming, and some deny that human activity is responsible. The recent Vatican conference’s host, Msgr. Sanchez Sorondo, one of the pope’s top advisers who likely knows what will be in the encyclical, had choice words for such skeptics: “It’s the same people who defend the oil industry… . It’s the lobby of profit.”
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