Matre Terra

06/22/2015

“The science is critical, but it’s not enough,” said Nathaniel P. Hitt, a fisheries biologist who is active in a Presbyterian church in Shepherdstown, W.Va. “Science is like a compass. It can tell us where north is, but it can’t tell us if we want to go north. That’s where our morality comes in.”

Many faith traditions are awakening to the burden that climate change is placing on poor people, and finding justification for caring for the environment in their scripture.

06/18/2015

Pope Francis encyclical on the environment is finally out, and it draws from the very same canticle by St. Francis from which "Matre Terra" derives it's name. Read the full text here...

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

Encyclical Letter Laudato si' of the Holy Father Francis on care for our common home (24 May 2015)

06/16/2015

A somewhat irreverent but very funny take on Pope Francis' upcoming encyclical on faith, the environment, and conservation.

"Pope Francis: The Encyclical," is a hilarious Hollywood-style spoof trailer posted by Observatório do Clima. Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment is

05/27/2015

Pastor Mitch Hescox up on stage for new clean water rules with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy! A great win for kids and families!!

05/08/2015

Great to see faith leaders taking a stand...

Catholic priests in Batangas are leading the fight against the construction of a 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant, raising fears that it will bring massive

04/21/2015

Good anthology of leaders in the faith and environment community.

Environmentalists and their politically progressive allies have long dismissed conservative evangelical Christians as repressive moralists and industry apologists. The suspicion and hostility are m...

04/09/2015

Amen! “Moved by God’s love for the vulnerable, evangelicals are quick to give when disaster strikes,” Boorse writes. The effects of climate change are “threat multipliers for the many problems faced by the poor around the globe. Recognizing this reality will strengthen our witness.”

Gordon College science professor Dorothy Boorse wants evangelical Christians to connect their faith with caring for the environment.

04/01/2015

Some hints on the Pope's upcoming encyclical on environmental justice and climate change...

“Compelled by the scientific evidence for climate change,” [Cardinal] Turkson said, “we are called to care for humanity and to respect the grammar of nature as virtues in their own right.”

Earlier this month, before a modest audience at a Catholic university in Ireland, Cardinal Peter Turkson delivered a lengthy address on the importance of caring…

01/16/2015

Amen!

If you'd rather argue about how, or by whom, the earth was created than care for the earth, I am made ever more sad...

10/06/2014

Today is the Feast of St. Francis, Patron Saint of Ecology.

Saint of the Day offers daily inspiring saints' stories and presents ways to apply their example. Send free Saints' e-greetings.

09/11/2014

What a travesty of justice! A citizen watchdog takes on Rio Tinto, a major international mining company, for violating the Clean Water Act. The court agrees that company broke the law, but the ruling was overturned on a technicality and the plaintiffs have been ordered to pay $60,000 of the polluter's court costs. In the short term, please consider helping Laura Gauger cover her $20,500 fine, but in the long-term we cannot let citizens be threatened with massive fines for challenging the illegal actions of polluters.

My co-plaintiffs and I won the case in U.S. District Court and exposed Rio Tinto’s highly touted “model mine” for what it is – just one more example of how metallic sulfide mines always pollute. Unfortunately, however, the ruling was overturned on a technicality. Now the court is ordering the plaintiffs, including me as an individual, to pay the polluter’s court costs.