In a new document titled “Laudate Deum,” or “Praise God,” the head of the Catholic Church issued his strongest warning yet that action is needed to alleviate suffering.

Pope Francis made his strongest statements yet about climate change Wednesday, rebuking fossil fuel companies and urging countries to make an immediate transition to renewable energy.

In a new document titled “Laudate Deum,” or “Praise God,” the pope criticizes oil and gas companies for greenwashing new fossil fuel projects and calls for more ambitious efforts in the West to tackle the climate crisis. In the landmark apostolic exhortation, a form of papal writing, Francis says that “avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people.”

“Laudate Deum” is a follow-up to the pope’s 2015 encyclical on climate change, known as “Laudato Si’,” which lamented the exploitation of the planet and cast the protection of the environment as a moral imperative. When it was released, “Laudato Si’” was viewed as an extraordinary move by the head of the Catholic Church to address global warming and its consequences.

Nearly a decade later, the pope’s message has taken on new urgency.

  • @Nahvi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6•9 months ago

    Every time the pope has turned them away and refused to even acknowledge their existence

    Where did you hear that? These articles seem to say the opposite.

    Monday’s meeting between Francis and the six victims of church sexual abuse was not the first such meeting between a pontiff and survivors, but it was the first of Francis’ papacy.

    2014 - https://www.cnn.com/2014/07/07/world/pope-clerical-sex-abuse/

    “God weeps” for the sexual abuse of children, Pope Francis said Sunday in Philadelphia, after meeting with victims of sexual abuse.

    2015 - https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/27/us/pope-francis-sex-abuse-victims/index.html

    Pope Francis said he regularly meets with victims of sexual abuse on Fridays, and that while the percentage of priests who abuse is relatively low, even one is too many.

    2018 - https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/37774/pope-francis-regularly-meets-with-abuse-victims-on-fridays

    In the evening of the same day, Pope Francis held an audience with Portugese victims of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church.

    2023 - https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-francis-holds-private-meetings-sex-abuse-victims-ukrainian-pilgrims

    • @Ebennz@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3•9 months ago

      Yet he ascended the ranks of the church while all that happened. Swell guy. I’m sure he knew nothing about it until he became pope…

      • @Nahvi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0•9 months ago

        Sexual abuse happens in virtually every organization. The main issue is how it is dealt with. The catholic church has a long issue of dealing with issues internally, but this was definitely one that was not being handled correctly. Francis has made it clear that he is willing to face the issue head-on now that he has the power.

        We do not have to turn a blind eye to their past mistakes, but we should also acknowledge what they are actually doing to work on those mistakes instead of spreading misinformation about them still hiding from it.

        • @SuddenlyBlowGreen@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1•9 months ago

          Francis has made it clear that he is willing to face the issue head-on now that he has the power.

          I especially liked it when he faced it head-on in Chile by saying all the allegations were “calumny”.

          • @Nahvi@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1•9 months ago

            Definitely some odd choices here. Condemns the main abuser to a life-time of penance and prayer and then totally dismisses any claims that the abuser’s protege may have seen the abuse.

            It does seem he eventually changed his tune, but not before seriously harming his credibility on the issue.

            In April, the pope publicly acknowledged that he had erred in handling the situation, saying he had made “serious mistakes” — and summoning Chile’s bishops to an emergency meeting in Rome. Francis said he had misjudged Barros and the events in Chile because he hadn’t been given “truthful and balanced information.”

            In May, all of Chile’s 31 active bishops offered to resign their posts, issuing a statement in which they asked forgiveness and apologized for “the grave errors and omissions that we committed.”

            https://www.npr.org/2018/06/11/618825779/pope-francis-accepts-resignations-of-3-bishops-over-chilean-abuse-scandal

        • @Ebennz@lemmy.mlEnglish
          -1•9 months ago

          Sexual abuse happens in virtually every organization.

          Nice, justifying sex abuse.

          They don’t get a round of applause for no longer empowering rapist priests.