Local environmental stewards praise Pope’s encyclical on climate

BY BILL DOYLE |CFP CORRESPONDENT

It was Father Paul O’Connell’s idea to form an environmental stewardship ministry in the Diocese of Worcester in 2017 and he’s served on the committee ever since. So, he was pleased to read that Pope Francis recently urged the world to do more to fight climate change.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, Pope Francis voiced his concerns about the warming planet in the document, “Laudate Deum,” which is Latin for “Praise God.” It was a follow-up to his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si,” which is Latin for “Praise be to you,” in which he first warned that more must be done to care for the planet.
Pope Francis wrote that the inadequate responses have resulted in a world that is “collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” He said the increase in the global temperature of the oceans is already irreversible for at least several hundred years.
“I think he’s very strong in his comments,” Father O’Connell said, “but he probably hit the nail on the head because it’s obvious that the world hasn’t responded well to the impact of climate change.”
Father O’Connell, the associate judicial vicar for the diocese, realizes that many people don’t believe in the problems of climate change, but he thinks they would if they read the Pope’s 7,000-word apostolic exhortation.
“In it he kind of chastises the world a little bit,” Father O’Connell said, “but realizes that it is a big challenge. He really has his whole hand around the situation. If you read the whole thing, he knows exactly what’s happening and hasn’t been happening and where the problems lie. It’s an exhortation that you can really reflect upon for days.”
Pope Francis blamed big industries and world leaders, but in particular he called out the United States and the “irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model” for producing twice the emissions per person than that of China and seven times as much as the average of the poorest nations.
“It’s an accurate comment,” Father O’Connell said. “Instead of a criticism, I saw it more as an urgency that we need to move ahead on this and people have to really believe in it. Quite obviously, the reason that people haven’t responded well is they really don’t have a strong belief in it.”
Dr. Madeline Colon-Usowicz, a member of the diocese’s environmental ministry, said she was “taken aback” to read that the U.S. had made so little progress in combating climate change. “That was striking,” she said.
Dr. Colon-Usowicz, a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster, said she sensed the urgency of the Pope’s message. It stood out to her that Pope Francis called it a “climate crisis.”
Of course, people who don’t believe in climate change likely won’t read the Pope’s document. Pope Francis pointed out that climate change conferences haven’t made much of an impact in the past, but Father O’Connell hopes that the Pope’s latest document will make one at the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled for Nov. 20-Dec. 12 in Dubai.
“If not,” Father O’Connell said, “it’s just going to be more and more of the tragic situations that climate change brings, which is more floods, more storms, more fires.”
Peter Dunbeck, chairman of the environmental stewardship ministry for the Diocese of Worcester, is a parishioner at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough. As the chair of the “Sustainable Westborough” committee he works with the town manager, the planning board and the select board toward implementing a net-zero plan in the town, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as close to zero as possible.
He said he’s seen progress against the climate crisis, but it’s happening “way too slow,” pointing to the flooding in Leominster and Vermont, fires in California and Hawaii.
“My hope is that dioceses like Worcester and parishes like mine take this to heart,” he said, “and actually take more action than we have been doing.”
Mr. Dunbeck thanked Bishop McManus for his support, but he said he would like to see all bishops and pastors follow the Pope’s advice by building net zero plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and by educating their parishioners on the steps they can take in their own households.
“It can’t be done through a document coming from Rome,” he said. “It’s got to be done locally and the leadership of the Church locally needs to take a clearer stand on how important this is.”
Dr. Colon-Usowicz compares those who don’t believe in climate change to “Doubting Thomas,” the apostle who said he refused to believe Jesus had resurrected until he could see and feel his crucifixion wounds. She realizes that climate change doubters likely won’t read the Pope’s report, but she expects the Pope’s words will be shared around the world and make a difference anyway.
Dr. Colon-Usowicz was impressed that the Pope even called out the doubters in the Catholic Church and she hopes his words will change their minds.
“I’m extremely proud of him,” she said. “His name, Pope Francis, stands for the great St. Francis of Assisi, who was a promoter of God’s creation, the world around us, and I’m so proud of him for taking the stance because his words matter as the leader of the Catholic Church, the vicar of Christ. He represents all of us as Catholics and the message is clear.”
Father O’Connell agrees. “I’m tremendously impressed,” he said, “and I think it’s an important voice to be heard in the world because he not only gives you scientific facts, he gives you a spirituality that goes with it. You’ve got a God who has given us care of the earth, care of the poor, and he wants us to respond to that. So, coming from him I think makes a tremendous difference.”
Father O’Connell would like to see leaders of other religions share the same urgent warning about climate change.
Dr. Colon-Osowicz believes leaders can’t act alone.
“At times, we think that when leaders get together, it’s the leaders’ responsibility to make a change,” she said, “but the reality is it’s the responsibility of every single one of us in this world.”
She said the Pope’s words should help her ministry make more of a difference in the diocese. One example of how to do that is to install solar panels, as St. Joseph Parish in Charlton has done in a field near the church and as Sacred Heart of Jesus in Hopedale plans to do in its parking lot late this year or early next year.
The environmental stewardship ministry is composed of volunteers who attempt to educate people in the diocese about climate change. About 200 people attended an environmental stewardship conference a few years ago at the Hogan Center with Bishop McManus serving as the keynote speaker. Bishop McManus and Msgr. Richard Reidy have celebrated Green Masses, where they preach about the importance of protecting the environment.