Environmentalism – major new theme of Benedict XVI

“…environmentalism has emerged as perhaps the most distinctive new feature of Benedict XV’s social teaching” writes respected commentator John Allen.

Benedict touched upon the environment seven times during his July 12-21 trip to Australia, more often than he mentioned sexual abuse, the right to life, relativism, or any other social or cultural concern.

This was hardly the first time a pope has struck an ecological note. As far back as 1972, Pope Paul VI called for ‘respect for the biosphere’ to preserve ‘a hospitable earth for future generations. Sacred Heart Sr. Marjorie Keenan, a longtime official of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said her shelves contain four volumes of papal teaching on the environment spanning four decades.

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