Catholic clerical responses to climate change and Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’

Abstract

The 2015 release of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment—Laudato Si’—was met with widespread praise by many who hoped this document would spur Catholics around the world to join movements struggling against climate change. Frequently, these hopes were accompanied by expectations that leaders in the Catholic Church would begin greening their churches and help integrate their parishioners into broader environmental movements. However, while there are strong theoretical rationales supporting Catholic environmental action, few studies have examined what—if anything—is actually happening. This paper responds to this gap by assessing how Catholic clergy in one U.S. diocese are engaging environmental concerns. Drawing upon 31 interviews with priests and deacons across the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., this study finds that few clergy are substantively engaging environmental issues. In addition, this paper identifies and discusses several personal and systemic barriers hampering Catholic clerical efforts to further green their churches.