Catholic means universal and it is a tragedy that in a world where the majority of climate scientists (no problem mate, the scientists are divided, I read it in the newspapers) are telling us that humanity is facing a catastrophe of unimagineable proportions, perhaps even its own extinction, Catholics are as complacently apathetic as nearly everybody else. Either they are primarily concerned about whether Mass is in Latin and the importance of eating fish on Friday, or are more or less goers along with Vatican 2, dutifully going to Mass but hardly on fire with a mission to save the world. It’s true that climate is a technological and political issue. But before all else it is a moral issue, for to save the world we have to want to save the world. With its commitment to universal salvation and its international presence, the Catholic Church is uniquely placed to supply the moral lead that humanity so urgently requires. why is its voice so feeble then? You’d have thought if only for the sake of their childrens’ future people would look as closely as they could into whether so many scientists might be right or not. You’d have thought too that as members of a religion that above all is concerned with Das Ende, the eschaton, Catholics would have been on fire with desire to save the world. But not they. (Fortunately there’s no problem. I read it in the newspapers.)
