Catholic Climate Covenant

Link to Catholic Climate Covenant

Catholic Climate Covenant

CrossAfter decades of steady progress in reclaiming and advancing the Catholic Church’s efforts to embrace an ethic of environmental stewardship, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change launched an unprecedented and historical campaign, the Catholic Climate Covenant, to take responsibility for our contribution to climate change and do what we do best: be advocates for those who will be left out of the public policy debate on climate change.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II issued his landmark World Day of Peace Message: Ecological Responsibility. That pastoral letter pumped new life into a growing movement within the Catholic Church which had already begun to look back to the stories of Creation, define correctly and responsibly the notion of “dominion” and “stewardship.” The letter also examined Jesus’ teachings about care for Creation and care for poor people, recalled beloved Catholic saints, especially St. Francis of Assisi, and led to the institutionalization of Care for Creation into the work of the Catholic bishops’ conference and many other faith communities.

In 1991, the U.S. bishops followed the Holy Father’s lead and wrote, Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic Social Teaching.

In 1993 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops established the Environmental Justice Program with the help of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment which formed around the same time.

Today the great gift of God’s Creation is exposed to serious dangers and lifestyles which can degrade it. Environmental pollution is making particularly unsustainable the lives of the poor of the world … we must pledge ourselves to take care of creation and to share its resources in solidarity.

In the late 1990s, the bishops turned their attention to climate change, and in 2001 published the landmark pastoral letter, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good. This was among the first and most comprehensive statements on climate change by any faith group and proved to be an invaluable resource that began the promotion of a clear and unique contribution of the Catholic community to the climate change debate.

In 2006, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change was launched with the support of both the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change supports and complements USCCB’s Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development (formerly, the Department of Social Development and World Peace) and the bishops’ Environmental Justice Program.  The Coalition is a membership organization consisting of twelve national Catholic organizations that offers advice and assistance in implementing its programs.

With the help of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and the full support and cooperation of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Coalition launched The Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor on April 22, 2009.