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February 13, 2019

Greed, thirst for profit threatens humanity, Vatican official says

An woman from the Pataxo Ha-ha-hae tribe looks at dead fish near the Paraopeba River after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA collapsed near Sao Joaquim de Bicas, Brazil, Jan. 28, 2019.
ROME – Left unchecked, unbridled greed and a thirst for profit leads down a slippery slope that endangers the earth and all who live on it, especially indigenous populations, a Vatican official said.
Published in International
February 9, 2019

Why are you here? Theologian Mary Jo Leddy looks to Canada's newcomers and the land itself for answers

Mary Jo Leddy is founder of Romero House for refugees. She uses the summertime to take refugees on a Canadian discovery adventure near Manitoulin Island.

For Mary Jo Leddy the question on the cover of her new book leads immediately to other questions. Why Are You Here? is Leddy’s way of asking Canadians, “Who are we? And who do we want to be?”

Published in Features
January 28, 2019

Halfway through three-year plan, Green Churches Network aims to expand its national footprint

At Toronto’s St. Gabriel’s Parish, one of the early parishes to join the Green Churches Network, the entire south facade of the worship space is glazed with clear glass. Architect Robert Chiotti designed it to harness the winter’s energy while extending the sacred space of worship “into the sacred space of the world beyond.”

It surprises Gregory Lynch when he fields calls at the Green Churches Network from churches looking for ways to lessen their carbon footprint.

Published in Canada
January 9, 2019

Climate change caught in political battle over carbon tax

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has promised to rescind the controversial Liberal carbon tax that went into effect on Jan. 1 for industry and will apply April 1 on consumer goods such as gasoline and home heating fuels.

OTTAWA – Climate politics are shaping up as a federal election issue in a partisan scenario cautioned against by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, his 2015 encyclical on the environment.

Published in Canada
January 8, 2019

Indonesian archbishop urges Catholics to ditch plastic bags

A woman carries plastic bags while browsing in 2015 at a vegetable market in Jakarta, Indonesia. Months after Indonesia's military was summoned to unclog Jakarta Bay, Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo joined a chorus of disapproval of the nation's growing plastic waste problem by calling parishioners to action.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Months after Indonesia's military was summoned to unclog Jakarta Bay, Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo has joined a chorus of disapproval of the nation's growing plastic waste problem by calling parishioners to action.
Published in International
December 17, 2018

Catholic groups raise concerns that UN climate rulebook lacks ambition

COP24 President Michal Kurtyka speaks during a final session of the U.N. climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, Dec. 15.
WARSAW, Poland – Catholic participants and observers criticized a "lack of ambition" by government negotiators at a U.N. conference on climate change that ended Dec. 15 with agreement on a rulebook to implement the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Published in International
December 4, 2018

Still time to curb worst effects of global warming, says climate scientist

Veerabhadran Ramanathan speaks on solutions to climate change during a Nov. 16 lecture at Villanova University in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA – An internationally renowned pioneer in climate science and climate change research, in an address at Villanova University, said that rather than "finger-pointing" about the causes of global warming, people need take collective action to slow the process.
Published in International
December 4, 2018

We stand before the 'challenge of civilization', Cardinal Parolin says at U.N. Climate Change Conference

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, speaks Dec. 3 during the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland. The cardinal told participants "We are standing before a challenge of civilization for the benefit of the common good."
The Vatican challenged countries gathered for the 24th U.N. Climate Change Conference to focus on the needs of the present and the future as it worked to take swift action.
Published in International
November 27, 2018

Catholic groups pledge to make church's voice heard at U.N. climate conference

A thermal power plant is seen Nov. 21 near residential buildings in Beijing. As government delegations from across the globe prepare for a Dec. 2-14 U.N. conference on climate change, Catholic organizations are urging radical steps and pledging to make the church's voice heard.
WARSAW, Poland – As government delegations from across the globe prepare for a Dec. 2-14 U.N. conference on climate change, Catholic organizations are pledging to make the church's voice heard.
Published in International
October 26, 2018

Bishops sign document calling for action against climate change

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, signs a joint statement Oct. 26 at the Vatican's Sala Marconi calling on the international community to take immediate action against climate change. Also pictured in the signing are Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi of Lubango, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, left, Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan of David, Panama, president of Latin American bishops' council's economic committee, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, right.
VATICAN – Six bishops representing episcopal conferences on five continents issued a joint statement calling on the international community to take immediate action against climate change.
Published in International
October 15, 2018

Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo: Experiencing life and toxicity during the Season of Creation

Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, left, and Plant Nite friend Sarah Avarell with their new creations.

As celebrations for the Season of Creation unfolded over the past month, I was struck by two vastly different experiences: one life-giving, the other literally toxic.

Published in Register Columnists
October 9, 2018

Anthropocene at AGO: Exploring the stark reality of man’s footprint on the planet — scars and all

Edward Burtynsky, Oil Bunkering #4, Niger Delta, Nigeria, 2016 Pigment inkjet print, 58 ½ x 78 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto. © Edward Burtynsky, 2017

Looking at the cathedral-scale art by one of the world’s foremost photographers, theologian Dennis Patrick O’Hara said, “Yes, it’s awesome and it’s awful.”

Published in Arts News
September 20, 2018

Montreal Sisters divest from fossil fuel industry

Sunflowers stand in a field near inactive oil drilling rigs in Dickinson, N.D., Jan. 21, 2016.

Another Canadian Catholic institution has joined in the movement to sell off all carbon-based energy stocks and forbid portfolio managers from buying any more.

Published in Canada
September 11, 2018

Editorial: Our duty to water

Editorial: Our duty to water

Canadians take water for granted. We have more ocean shoreline than any nation on Earth and our freshwater lakes and rivers cover almost 12 per cent of Canada’s landmass.

Published in Editorial
September 5, 2018

Let there be light: Church uses parish power to go solar and lose the electric bill

St. Vincent de Paul Church is saving about $800 a year by converting to solar power.

When God provides, there’s not much else that parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul Church need. 

Published in Canada
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