Any day now Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, will be issuing a rare papal Encyclical on climate change and the environment. The Encyclical will apparently be urging all Catholics to take action against climate change. It will be sent to 5,000 Catholic bishops and 400,000 priests around the world, who will be asked to distribute it to their parishioners. The expected 60-page Encyclical comes months in advance of the next UN climate meeting set for December in Paris.
Signatory Pat Mooney, who is with the Ottawa-based ETC. Group, told me that Pope Francis’ forthcoming Encyclical will probably focus “more on climate change than anything else,” but there might be a reference to GMOs in it. “There is a hope for it” being included, he said. Mooney confirmed that there is “a history of conversations” and “close links” between biotech giant Syngenta and members of the Vatican. The biotech industry claims that GMO crops will help feed the world during climate change – a claim debunked by many independent scientists worldwide, as documented in materials sent to Pope Francis.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Looming Battle of the Churches Over the Environment