A new study from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) looks at the differing views of US Catholics on the environmental issues raised by Pope Francis, and specially addresses their views on what has come to be known as “climate justice”.
Climate justice is an approach to environmental action that focuses on the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalised or otherwise vulnerable populations around the world. The term is reported to have first gained prominence during the 1980s in academia, and the issue of climate justice is now one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Many of its tenets have been pushed to the fore by Pope Francis during his papacy.
The CARA study is based on a national poll of self-identified Catholics in the United States, aged 18 and upwards, which was conducted electronically in December 2023. The CARA document takes a closer look at US Catholics’ attitudes toward the environmental issues raised by the Pope.
CARA says one tenth (11 per cent) of those polled indicated that they “know well” what environmental justice is about and one third (32 per cent) indicated that “they have a general sense of what it is about”. By comparison, 32 per cent “heard about it but do not know what it is about”, while 25 per cent “have never heard about it.”
The study also said three-in-five (61 per cent) came across the topic of environmental justice in the past three months in a Catholic venue such as at Mass, a Catholic website, book or magazine; seven-in-ten (72 per cent) say they believe that environmental justice is a legitimate issue that needs urgent attention, as compared to 28 per cent who believe that it is “false”.
Pope Francis has made climate issues a central part of his papacy. In 2015, he devoted an entire encyclical to the matter, called Laudato Si’, in which he cited scientific consensus that the Earth is warming due to human activity.
In October of 2023, the Pope released the document Laudate Deum, in which he addresses the citizens of richer countries and the “irresponsible lifestyle” of the developed world, focusing on the US.
“If we consider that emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries, we can state that a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact,” the Pope wrote.
The CARA survey saw that three-in-five (62 per cent) of US Catholics are concerned that climate change will harm them personally at some point in their life, as compared to 38 per cent who are not concerned.
Meanwhile, four-in-five (76 per cent) say they believe that they have a moral responsibility to personally do what they can to combat climate change, as compared to 24 per cent who do not believe that.
The survey also found seven-in-ten (69 per cent) say they believe that it is “important” or “very important” (as opposed to “not at all important” or “not too important”) for Catholics to engage in environmental justice (with 22 per cent saying that it is “very important”).
CARA’s survey said four-in-five (81 per cent) engaged in at least one environmental justice-related activity in the past three months. The most common of such activities was reducing waste or actively recycling (practiced by 55 per cent of US Catholics), followed by incorporating environmental justice into their decision making as consumers (18 per cent) and donating to environmental justice-related causes (18 per cent), among other activities.
Among the 81 per cent who engaged in at least one of the environmental justice-related activities in the past three months, the survey said two-in-five (44 per cent) reported that they were motivated “somewhat” or “very much” (as opposed to “not at all” or “only a little”) by their Catholic beliefs.
Over half (54 per cent) said they do not believe that “God has played a role in the changes observed to Earth’s climate in recent years,” while the other half (46 per cent) said they believe God has played a role.
When asked whether enough was being done to help reduce the effects of global climate change by the respective groupings of Catholic dioceses, the US bishops’ conference, parishes, religious orders, Catholic nonprofit organisations; between 40 and 44 per cent of respondents said such organisations do “too little” to help reduce the effects of global climate change. When it came to themselves as individuals, 38 per cent said they felt they were doing “too little”, while one third (31 per cent) believe that Pope Francis is doing “too little”.
The report said that nearly a quarter of respondents said they believe that the Church should not be involved in environmental justice. By comparison, nearly half would like to see the Church engage in environmental justice by educating and raising awareness (46 per cent), as well as by creating volunteering opportunities (45 per cent).
One third (33 per cent) had heard about Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, as compared to two thirds (67 per cent) who did not know about it.
CARA said the report found significant differences between younger and older Catholics; between Democrats, Republicans and independents; between those who attend Mass frequently and those who attend it rarely or never; and between Hispanics and other Catholics.
Photo: In an aerial view, a newly constructed sand berm attempts to protect against strong Pacific Ocean surf, two days after a rogue wave inundated the area and injured eight people, Ventura, California, 30 December 2023. A 2023 study from UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography indicates that California’s winter waves have increased in size since 1970 as a result of climate change warming the planet. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.)
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