Climate Change
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Background
"Honoring creation is another way to honor God who created all that is. If we value our relationship with God and God's creation, climate change must be for us a profoundly spiritual, ethical, and moral issue. The human contribution to climate change represents one of the clearest examples of how human activity is damaging God's creation. We need to recover spiritual values that respect God's creation.
"It is a moral issue because while the poor have contributed the least to climate change, they will suffer its worst consequences. Catholic Social teaching, based on biblical and Church teaching, call us to consider first how our actions affect poor and vulnerable people. We have a special obligation to respond to our brothers and sisters in need."
Catholic Climate Covenant, A Catholic Approach to Climate Change
Act
Individuals
- Take the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor
- Participate in a Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA)
- Shop at your local Farmers' Market
- Calculate your own carbon footprint and identify areas where you can change
- Examine your own lifestyle and see how your family can be a better steward for God and the environment
Parishes
- Invite a Catholic Climate Covenant's Catholic Climate Ambassador to offer presentations on the moral implications of climate change consistent with Catholic teaching as outlined by Pope Benedict XVI and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- Take the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor
- Plant a community garden and help feed the community
- Tear up your parking lot and build a community garden in its place
- Contact the Office of Life, Justice & Peace for resources for an Environment Workshop
- The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good: A Reflection Guide
- Renew the Face of the Earth: An Opportunity to Live Out Your Faith by Embracing the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching on the Environment (Through Prayer, Reflection, Education and Action!)
- Conduct an energy audit
Learn
Educate Your Parish
- The Importance of October 4 in Laudato Si'
- 6 Reasons to Shop at Farmers' Markets
- Strawberries and Squash: Learn more about CSAs
- Farmers' Markets and CSAs
Vatican
USCCB
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