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Pope Francis meets President Biden during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on October 29 in Vatican City. The Pope calls for action against climate change.
Vatican Pool / Getty Images
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Vatican Pool / Getty Images
Pope Francis meets President Biden during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on October 29 in Vatican City. The Pope calls for action against climate change.
Vatican Pool / Getty Images
Pope Francis again on Sunday urged political and business leaders “to act now with courage and vision” to care for the planet and its people in the face of the global climate crisis. His remarks, made in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, came just hours after the close of a two-week United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Pope insisted on the importance and urgency of climate action, dedicating a major document six years ago – known as the Laudato Si ‘ – the importance of environmental stewardship.
It was also the main topic of discussion during President Biden’s meeting with Francis at the Vatican last month.
In contrast, the Catholic bishops of the United States have usually been mom or cheating on climate change in their messages to their congregations.
A study published last month by academics at Creighton University in Nebraska analyzed more than 12,000 official written communications sent to parishioners in nearly every diocese in the United States over five years as of June 2014.
The authors found that on rare occasions when bishops mentioned climate change, they “diminished and distanced themselves from the Church’s teaching on this issue” and downplayed parts of Pope Francis’ statement. Laudato Si ‘ document that conflicts with conservative American political ideology.
US conservative bishops hope to deny Biden key Catholic sacrament
The climate is not the only divide between the American bishops and the Vatican. At a conference in June, Catholic leaders questioned whether prominent politicians like Biden who support access to abortion should be allowed to receive Communion, a key part of worship for Catholics in which bread and the consecrated wine are shared.
Biden, a longtime devout Catholic, says he personally opposes abortion – although as a lawmaker he has long supported legal access to the procedure.
Last month, after meeting François, the president said that the pontiff “was happy to be a good Catholic and to continue to receive Communion”.
The president’s account of the pope’s remarks reflects past statements by Francis, who in 2013 describes communion as “not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and food for the weak”. He said the church “is not a toll station” but rather “a place for everyone, with all their problems”.
U.S. bishops are expected to revisit the issue of President Biden and communion this week. At a conference in Baltimore, the clergy will vote on a document that could indicate who is eligible to receive Communion as well as to what extent Catholics with public authority, including the president, should embody the values ​​of the Church Catholic.
Despite the contrast between Catholic leaders, among parishioners the issue is less controversial: a March poll by the Pew Research Center found that a large majority of American Catholics, 67% percent, say Biden should be allowed to receive Communion. In an April poll, Pew found that 55% of American Catholics believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to 59% of the general population.
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