VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – Pope Francis is scheduled to attend the upcoming COP28 climate summit in Dubai from Dec. 1–3, while the U.S. bishops’ conference continues to echo his call for climate activism.
In a recent interview with Gian Marco Chiocci, the director of Italy’s TG1 television channel, Pope Francis offered his views on the significance of this summit. He noted that the upcoming summit serves as a critical juncture between the 2016 Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In fact, this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) marks the midway point between the legally binding Paris Agreement, which entered into force in 2016, and the culmination of Agenda 2030 and its globalist, socialist ideals seven years from now.
Papal Call for Climate Action
During the interview, the Pope reminisced about releasing his ecological encyclical, Laudato Si, shortly before the 2015 COP21 climate summit in Paris. He shared his perspective, stating, “The Paris summit was the most successful. However, post-Paris, there was a collective retreat, and moving forward in this area demands bravery.”
Pope Franics’ Laudate Deum
On Sept. 1, 2023, marking the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis issued a message underscoring his expectations for COP28. He urged, “The world leaders who will gather for the COP28 summit in Dubai from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 must listen to science and institute a rapid and equitable transition to end the era of fossil fuels.”
Under Pope Francis, the Church has entered an age of frenetic climate activism, culminating thus far in the release of his new apostolic exhortation on the environment, Laudate Deum, on Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. This issuance marked the culmination of the Season of Creation, a period extending from Sept. 1 to Oct. 4.
In the interview with Chiocci, the pontiff further explained how he considers the exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructures to be absurd, given the commitments made in the Paris Agreement.
He highlighted what he deems an urgent situation, alleging the potential disappearance of some Pacific Islands within 20 years due to rising sea levels.
“Our future is at stake. The future of our children and grandchildren. It takes some responsibility,” the pope claimed.
US Bishops Echo Papal Call
Throughout Pope Francis’s tenure, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has consistently echoed the pontiff’s views on an urgent need for environmental action and climate change mitigation.
Abp. Borys Gudziak and Bp. David J. Malloy
A recent manifestation of this shared ideology can be found in a statement released by the USCCB on Sept. 1. Authored by Abp. Borys Gudziak and Bp. David J. Malloy, the document is titled “Statement on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.”
The statement declares, “We must change! … We must pursue rapid decarbonization — ‘an energy revolution’ — to seriously address climate change.” This call for an “energy revolution” resonates with Pope Francis’s advocacy for a comprehensive and swift shift in how the world approaches energy consumption and production.
The statement further asserts that such a transformation must occur “without doing so at the expense of the poor and underprivileged,” mirroring Pope Francis’s consistent emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable in society.
Challenging the Climate Narrative
However, a contrasting perspective is being offered by the Deposit of Faith Coalition, a group dedicated to confronting the bishops’ Democratic-aligned agenda.
The coalition has scheduled a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore on Nov. 14, 2023, from 1–3 p.m., to coincide with the annual meeting of the U.S. bishops. This conference aims to challenge the prevailing narrative on climate change and its purported misuse by leaders in politics and religion.
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Speakers at the press conference will include Dr. John Clauser, 2022 Nobel Prize laureate in physics; Marc Morano, founder of ClimateDepot.com; Alex Newman, an award-winning international journalist and Church Militant’s Michael Voris, a multiple Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist.
The topics of discussion will range from questioning the existence of a climate crisis to examining the alleged intentional collapse of essential industries and the perceived weaponization of religion in promoting climate policies.
Further details about the upcoming press conference can be found on the webpage for the coalition.
