Pope Francis lambasts climate change skeptics and ‘irresponsible’ Western lifestyles

Paco Dennis

Paco Dennis

SF VIP
Location
Mid-Missouri
231004121859-01-pope-francis-093023.jpg



Pope Francis has made his strongest statement yet on the accelerating climate crisis, pinning blame on big industries and world leaders as well as “irresponsible” Western lifestyles, in a blistering statement on Wednesday.

“Our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point,” the pontiff wrote in a 7,000 word encyclical called Laudate Deum (“Praise God”).

“Some effects of the climate crisis are already irreversible, at least for several hundred years, such as the increase in the global temperature of the oceans, their acidification and the decrease of oxygen,” he wrote.




The pope leveled heavy criticism at climate change deniers and delayers.

“Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest,” he wrote.

Climate change will likely only get worse and ignoring it will heighten “the probability of extreme phenomena that are increasingly frequent and intense,” he wrote.

WILMINGTON, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 28: The Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery Wilmington Plant stands on November 28, 2022 in Wilmington, California. Climate activists held a protest outside the refinery earlier in the day against increased oil company profits amid recent high gas prices in California. California Governor Gavin Newsom has called a special session of the Legislature for December 5th to consider a special windfall tax on oil industry profits. Phillips 66 reported a third quarter profit of $5.4 billion, 13 times more than the $402 million profit recorded for the same period last year. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

World isn't moving fast enough to cut pollution and keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, UN scorecard says
The pope paid particular attention to the disproportionate responsibility of rich countries for climate change.

“If we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact,” he wrote.

He also leveled blame at leaders and businesses which he said prioritize short-term profits and gains over climate action. “Regrettably, the climate crisis is not exactly a matter that interests the great economic powers, whose concern is with the greatest profit possible at minimal cost and in the shortest amount of time.”

He even directed criticism at his own church, referring to “certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church.”

The pope’s statement is a follow-up to his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si (“Praised Be To You”), which was the first ever ponitifcal writing completely dedicated to ecological issues, which have been a cornerstone of his papacy.

It comes ahead of the UN COP28 climate conference, which starts at the end of November in Dubai, where countries will undergo “global stocktake” to assess how quickly they are progressing towards climate goals.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/04/world/pope-francis-climate-change-encyclical-intl/index.html

@oldaunt @Sippican Sorry, probably nothing to be concerned about.
 

Last edited:
You might be right, but her plight is unfortunately becoming more and more common as AI gets easier to use for nefarious purposes. This article is relevant because much of the world is still in denial of the drastic Climate Crisis. That is happening now also and getting worse because of denial.

I thought there might be some people here not appreciating the article. It is relevant to how a manufactured picture can change a persons life so much. Incredible really.
The article I took off was in bad taste. Again. 😔 I need lessons in "class".
 
Many Christians feel that climate changes all the time, and we are going through a hot spell or cold spell or whatever...but do not feel like humanity is in any danger this century, especially in 50 years. The Pope is sending a message to those Christians that they had better wake up.
He also feels that the "West" has too much "lavishness" for it's own good. I agree with him on both issues, and feel like they are linked.

This not a political issue. It is a LIFE issue.
 
Paco Dennis said:
Many Christians feel that climate changes all the time, and we are going through a hot spell or cold spell or whatever...but do not feel like humanity is in any danger this century, especially in 50 years. The Pope is sending a message to those Christians that they had better wake up.
He also feels that the "West" has too much "lavishness" for it's own good. I agree with him on both issues, and feel like they are linked.
Click to expand...
I think the pope should stick to matters of faith, his area of expertise? And not climate change.
 
Wow, why the negativity about the thread? Does every thread have to "add value" for the people who come here? I'm new here, but whatever happened to seeing a thread you have no interest in, and just ignoring it? There's no need for the attacks - you'd of drawn less attention to it by NOT replying, because for me your doing so just moved it to the top of the forum.

Anyway....... I'm not even convinced Catholics listen to the Pope these days, do they?
 
For those late to this thread there was another news story about a different topic w a rather inappropriate picture. The story was worthy, the pic should not have been included here on SF.

PD has removed the offending story and substituted the Pope's plea. Comments made in response to the first story and pic were not deleted and still stand, which is what is causing the confusion.

PD has realized his error, so we're now back to regularly scheduled bickering about CC. Carry on!
 
againstthegrain said:
For those late to this thread there was another news story about a different topic w a rather inappropriate picture. The story was worthy, the pic should not have been included here on SF.

PD has removed the offending story and substituted the Pope's plea. Comments made in response to the first story and pic were not deleted and still stand, which is what is causing the confusion.

PD has realized his error, so we're now back to regularly scheduled bickering about CC. Carry on!
Click to expand...
Yea, even though it was redacted. I just got a bad feeling about it being part of this forum's culture. The story that I took off was about a picture some students made of a teacher that they put on social media that was a fake, but she was fired. Google "teacher x-rated picture students" if you want to read about it.
 
I don't understand why there is so much fuss when it comes to climate change.

For me:

Is climate change real? Yes.
Are humans contributing to making it accelerate? Yes.
Should we be looking into ways to decrease our impact? Yes.
Has the world had climate change before? Yes.

In long form - our climate is changing, and some of us have already experienced it. I can tell you from personal experience that the climate in the UK now is different than it was in the 1960's and 1970's. It's much milder (warmer) now. This is a change that is palpable. It's happening globally, and there's a ton of data to support it.

Are humans contributing? Yes, of course. How could we not? I mean, it's just impossible to imagine that a species that has done all that we've done, would have no impact on weather patterns. As we learn more about how this planet works, how mother nature functions, so we see more clearly how what we do affects the larger picture.

Therefore, if we can do something to lessen that impact, why wouldn't we? While doing what we do today is convenient, if we can help why wouldn't we want to do that? This topic isn't about today, tomorrow, or 50 years time. It's about forever.

Climate Change, as such, happens on a cycle on this planet. We know this, and it's not up for debate. But if you take the extremes, say another ice age came, millions, if not billions, of us, will die. In some remote regions (some islands), tribes have already lost their homes due to climate change. But it seems people will only take notice when New York is wiped out. Why not act now? And who can seriously be a climate change denier?!?! Baffling.

The issue is that the topic has become politicized, and therefore a sensible dialog can't take place. IMO. YMMV.
 
I think there is little doubt that Climate Change IS occurring, and I'm quite sure that there is little that can, or will, be done to ease the problem before it becomes a global crisis. It would require a total, and immediate, "upending" of the way we live to make any difference....fat chance of that happening. Those of us alive today will see increasing "inconveniences", but it is those living 100+ years from now that will begin to feel the full effects. Personally, I think that between CC and over population, humanity will be in turmoil by the end of this century.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I disagree. We have to become aware of MAKING it a "political" issue, and STOP it right away. Civil discourse on complex issues are for adults who want to understand things better.
Click to expand...

By saying can't, I mean isn't. Of course, it's the only way to resolve the issue. Instead we get agenda based "facts", that are mostly twisted truths. There are large segments of people who simply don't believe the science, and don't believe humans have had any effect. A lot of that mindset is being pushed for political gain as it gets lumped in with a hundred other conspiracies. Most of the dialog in the mainstream is about justifying the existence of climate change.

As I stated in my previous post - the climate is changing, and we can do things to help lessen the impact. I can't get my head around why we wouldn't want to do that.

Don M. said:
I think there is little doubt that Climate Change IS occurring, and I'm quite sure that there is little that can, or will, be done to ease the problem before it becomes a global crisis. It would require a total, and immediate, "upending" of the way we live to make any difference....fat chance of that happening. Those of us alive today will see increasing "inconveniences", but it is those living 100+ years from now that will begin to feel the full effects. Personally, I think that between CC and over population, humanity will be in turmoil by the end of this century.
Click to expand...

Whilst trying to avoid hyperbole, I think we're in turmoil now. As an oldster, I'm not very happy with the world we are leaving behind. We could and should have done better. Still, we don't need radical change right now - we need gradual change with a specific goal of addressing climate change over time. Even that is proving difficult.
 
It's always amazed me that conspiracy nuts hadn't latched on to global warming. Form shifting, reptile space aliens, who were sent to earth to take over the planet, and raise the temperature, so that they can better incubate their eggs is believable. But all the scientific proof meticulously gathered over the last 50 years about global warming isn't. There's no longer any debate about global warming or its cause. The fact that even the Pope sees human fingerprints all over global warming is an indication of the seriousness of the problem. Unless, of course, if the Pope is not the Pope, but a form shifting reptile alien double, who is really the commander of the mother ship---which could happen??????????
 
fuzzybuddy said:
It's always amazed me that conspiracy nuts hadn't latched on to global warming. Form shifting, reptile space aliens, who were sent to earth to take over the planet, and raise the temperature, so that they can better incubate their eggs is believable. But all the scientific proof meticulously gathered over the last 50 years about global warming isn't. There's no longer any debate about global warming or its cause. The fact that even the Pope sees human fingerprints all over global warming is an indication of the seriousness of the problem. Unless, of course, if the Pope is not the Pope, but a form shifting reptile alien double, who is really the commander of the mother ship---which could happen??????????
Click to expand...

Aliens from other planets have a lot to answer for. Sometimes I think they've signed on here under a pseudonym.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top