WASHINGTON — Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s worldwide network of humanitarian aid agencies, three German banks and more than 30 other Catholic institutions are planning to divest at least part of their financial portfolios from the fossil fuel industry. The divestment announcement by the Global Catholic Climate Movement April 22, Earth Day, is part of a continuing campaign to convince Catholic entities to move investments to renewable energy enterprises. Divestment from the fossil fuel industry is crucial to addressing climate change and upholding the commitments to reduce carbon emissions set in the 2015 Paris climate accord, Tomas Insua, GCCM executive director, told Catholic News Service. “This announcement is the result of many months of hard work. Our team has been working pretty hard raising awareness. I think there is so little understanding about the fossil fuel industry being at the core of the environmental crisis,” he said. The divestment campaign also falls in line with the message of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” Insua explained.
Care of environment topic of youth meeting with Bishop Hicks Care of the environment is an important topic for many of today’s young people, and thanks to an effort by the Office of Lifelong Formation, local youth had an opportunity Feb. 24 to share their concerns with Auxiliary Bishop Ronald Hicks, archdiocesan vicar general.
Pope, bishops urge action to save burning Amazon rainforest Describing the Amazon rainforest as "vital for our planet," Pope Francis joined the regions bishops in praying for action to extinguish the massive fires burning there.
World Youth Day participants issue 'manifesto' to call attention to environment Young people attending World Youth Day called attention to the world's environmental problems, issuing what they called a "manifesto" for the "care of the common home."