*Gosh.
http://www.catholicreview.org/subpages/storyworldnew-new.aspx?action=5483
Catholic coalition to unveil ‘St. Francis Pledge’ on climate change
By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service (((First time I've ever quoted the "Catholic News Service," though I rather imagine I'll be hearing more from them as conventional journalism collapses)))
WASHINGTON – During the Easter season, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change plans to publicly unveil a “Catholic Climate Covenant,” a new initiative to make U.S. Catholics more aware of what they can do to stem climate change and its effects.
It will be unveiled with a public event on Earth Day, April 22.
The covenant includes “The St. Francis Pledge to Protect Creation and the Poor,” modeled after St. Francis of Assisi, whose “Canticle of the Sun” praised God’s creation in the form of, among other things, earth, water and creatures.
The pledge is “a solemn commitment made by Catholic individuals, groups and institutions to honor God’s creation and serve the poor,” according to the pledge’s preamble. The pledge’s five points ask Catholics to:
– Pray and reflect on the duty to care for God’s creation and protect the poor and vulnerable.
– Learn about and educate others on the causes and moral dimensions of climate change.
– Assess “how each of us – as individuals and as organizations – is contributing to climate change,” both in terms of consumption and conservation.
– Act “to change our choices and behaviors contributing to climate change.”
– Advocate for Catholic principles and priorities in discussions and decisions about climate change, especially their impact on the poor and vulnerable.
Last year, the Senate considered a bill that would have sent public proceeds generated by a “cap and trade” approach to emissions to poor people in the most vulnerable developing countries to help them adapt to a changing climate, but there was not enough support to cut off debate and allow a vote on the measure itself.(...)
(((You may ask yourself – why is Francis of Assissi the very model of an environmental campaigner?)))
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm
(...)
"Not long after his return to Assisi, whilst Francis was praying before an ancient crucifix in the forsaken wayside chapel of St. Damian's below the town, he heard a voice saying: "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin."
"Taking this behest literally, as referring to the ruinous church wherein he knelt, Francis went to his father's shop, impulsively bundled together a load of coloured drapery, and mounting his horse hastened to Foligno, then a mart of some importance, and there sold both horse and stuff to procure the money needful for the restoration of St. Damian's. When, however, the poor priest who officiated there refused to receive the gold thus gotten, Francis flung it from him disdainfully.
"The elder Bernardone, a most niggardly man, was incensed beyond measure at his son's conduct, and Francis, to avert his father's wrath, hid himself in a cave near St. Damian's for a whole month. When he emerged from this place of concealment and returned to the town, emaciated with hunger and squalid with dirt, Francis was followed by a hooting rabble, pelted with mud and stones, and otherwise mocked as a madman. Finally, he was dragged home by his father, beaten, bound, and locked in a dark closet...."
