US Catholics ready to follow Pope's 'marching orders' on climate change (The Guardian)

[pinto]

US Catholics ready to follow Pope's 'marching orders' on climate change

Religious leaders say pontiff’s call for action brings urgency to existing support for environmental measures in Obama administrations’s climate plan.



Leaders of the Catholic church in America took their “marching orders” from the pope’s encyclical on Thursday, fanning out to Congress and the White House to push for action on climate change.

The high-level meetings offered a first glimpse of a vast and highly organised effort by the leadership of America’s nearly 80 million Catholics to turn the pope’s moral call for action into reality.

“It is our marching orders for advocacy,” Joseph Kurtz, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archbishop of Louisville, said. “It really brings about a new urgency for us.”

Representatives of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said they would hold two briefings for members of Congress on Thursday and visit the White House on Friday to promote and explain the pope’s environmental message.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-catholics-us-response

[AtheistCrusader]

1. I'll believe it when I see it.

So, 80 million US Catholics are just now suddenly concerned? Because of a top-down hierarchical proclamation?

And people hold out hope that a bottom-up pressure on the Church to normalize Contraceptives, or Same Sex Marriage will work? It doesn't work, and will never work, because that's not how this authoritarian org is set up.

What a joke.

[bvf]

2. +1 n/t.

[pinto]

3. Yeah, we'll see what actually comes from all of it. No crystal ball here.

Yet, I don't see any of it as a joke. Or, I'm not willing to write it all off out of hand. Again, we'll see.

[okasha]

5. Oh, blather.

Plenty of Catholics are already involved in environmental work. The encyclical affirms what they've already done and tells the rest to get with the program.


.

[cbayer]

4. Well, that's good to know.

Maybe it is a good sign. I would love to see them start to move left on some other issues.

Now, if the republicans would just get in line we might actually make some progress on this.