Faith

Water must be safeguarded and managed in a "wise, careful and sustainable way, so that everyone can enjoy it," Pope Francis said in a written message marking the Oct. 16 celebration of World Food Day, a commemoration sponsored by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Climate scientists say the science is sound in Pope Francis' new exhortation, Laudate Deum, and theologians applaud his "laser focus" on the climate crisis. But some also raise criticisms.

A new Public Religion Research Institute survey found that 31% of Hispanic Catholics, 22% of white mainline Protestants and 20% of white Catholics agree climate change is a crisis.

In Laudate Deum, Francis commends the U.S. bishops for having "expressed very well" in a 2019 declaration the "social meaning of our concern about climate change." Yet U.S. bishops are better known for activism that focuses on voicing opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights efforts.

Birds whistled, grass rustled and many bumblebees buzzed at an Illinois parish Sept. 24 for the dedication of a prairie restoration project to St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology and animals. 

Atop one of the highest hills in the Vatican Gardens, surrounded by green lawns, rose trellises, butterflies and green parrots, a panel of activists and a Nobel-prize winning physicist gathered to offer their insights on the importance of Pope Francis' latest document on the climate crisis.

National and international Catholic climate group leaders and two U.S. bishops respond to Pope Francis' new apostolic exhortation "Laudate Deum," to all people of good will on the climate crisis.