Popes and Climate Change

According to reports earlier this month, Pope Francis sent a message to a climate change conference in Bonn, Germany, in which he said climate change is “one of the most worrisome phenomena that humanity is facing” and warned against “perverse attitudes” by “those who deny the science behind global warming.” In this context, the word perverse refers to “a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable, often in spite of the consequences.” It should also be noted that Pope Francis likely was not referring to individuals but to countries involved in the negotiations involved in addressing climate change.

You can read more about Pope Francis’s views on climate change in his encyclical Laudato Si’. While it is true that matters of science generally are considered outside the realm of doctrine and morals—which means that papal teaching on these matters is not considered an exercise of papal infallibility—it should be noted that Pope Francis is not the first pope to have warned against man’s misuse of the environment and the problem of climate change. John Paul II and Benedict XVI both warned of the dangers of climate change and spoke of man’s responsibility to safeguard the environment. You can read a collection of some of their statements here.