Florida Catholic | Preserving God’s Creation

CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHING: Safeguarding The Environment

Preserving God’s Creation

Bishop Ricard and other religious leaders urge faithful to take global climate change seriously.

CÉSAR J. BALDELOMAR | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 06.29.08

MIAMI | With global warming threatening to alter the economy, displace millions and destroy countless habitats, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist hoped to raise “green” consciousness by convening a state summit on climate change.

Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, of the Diocese of Pensacola–Tallahassee conveyed the Catholic perspective during an interfaith panel discussion called “Preserving God’s Creation” that led off the summit June 25.

“God is known through the created world,” Bishop Ricard said. “To do anything that harms creation … is an insult to God.”

The governor’s 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change brought together business leaders, politicians, scholars, scientists and religious leaders for two–days of discussions and presentations at the InterContinental Hotel in Miami.

Joining Bishop Ricard on the interfaith panel were a Baptist minister, rabbi and Florida International University religious scholar Nathan Katz.

Each panelist reflected on what his or her faith tradition teaches about the environment as well as offered practical suggestions to counter the ills of global warming. “All faiths believe that global climate change is an important issue,” said Katz, director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality at FIU.

Bishop Ricard highlighted the Catholic Church’s concern with both global warming and its effects on the world’s poor. “The people who contribute less to global climate change are the ones who will suffer most,” Bishop Ricard said.

Corroborating Bishop Ricard’s claim is a report issued last year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warns that global climate change threatens billions of people — especially the impoverished — with intense flooding as well as food and water shortages. It claims that 75–250 million people across Africa could face water shortages by 2020, and agriculture fed by rainfall could drop by 50% in some African countries by 2020. Similar patterns are expected in Asia and Latin America.

In addition, the rising of the seawaters due to glacier melting from global warming could displace millions who live along the world’s coastal regions, including several Floridians, said the Rev. Jim Ball, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network.

To halt and reverse global warming, Bishop Ricard recommended for Catholics to live simply and “to be more aware of our lifestyles and the effect it has on our world.” He concluded his presentation by urging Catholics to use “our institutions and parishes to bring the message (about climate change) and preserve God’s creation.”

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