An interview with the feminist quoted by Pope Francis

Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change

October 20, 2023

Donna Haraway and her dog, Cayenne, are pictured at home in 2007. (Rusten Hogness)

When I was interviewing for this job as NCR's environment editor, the hiring committee asked me about my familiarity with Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', On Care for Our Common Home." I remember that in my response, I talked about how I found the footnotes to be one of the most interesting things.

In the footnotes to Laudato Si', Francis cited bishops' conferences from around the world, bringing a global voice to documented church teachings that historically have centered a perspective from the Global North and Western civilization. He also cited a Muslim Sufi mystic, Ali al-Khawas, which I think emphasized the importance of including interfaith efforts in creation care work.

So when Laudate Deum, the pope's new exhortation on the climate crisis, was released Oct. 4, one of the first things I did before even reading the text was to quickly scan the footnotes for anything noteworthy. I wasn't disappointed.

While more than half of the citations are to Laudato Si' or other papal documents, another quarter of them refer to political or scientific bodies connected to climate work, including the United Nations Environment Program, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But one citation near the end of the document really caught my attention. It was to Donna Haraway's 2008 book When Species Meet. And I wasn't alone in my surprise.

Christiana Zenner, associate professor of theology, science and ethics at Fordham University, told NCR staff reporter Aleja Hertzler-McCain that she was shocked by the inclusion of the feminist science and technology studies scholar.

We wanted to know more about Haraway and her work, so Hertzler-McCain reached out and was granted an interview. They discussed how Haraway felt about being quoted by the pope, what is a "contact zone" (the phrase quoted from Haraway's book in Laudate Deum), the role Catholic formation played in Haraway's life, why they've been "in deep apostasy for decades," and why they thinks the term "technocratic paradigm" is "frankly bullshit."

What else is new on EarthBeat:

Editorial: US bishops' response to 'Laudate Deum' was underwhelming and odd

by NCR Editorial Staff

The statement on Laudate Deum from the U.S. bishops' conference read more like an "out of office" kickback email than the "welcome" its title claimed it to be for Pope Francis' new exhortation on the environment.

Water is a precious, finite resource to be protected, shared, pope says

by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

Water must be safeguarded and managed in a "wise, careful and sustainable way, so that everyone can enjoy it," Pope Francis said in a written message marking the Oct. 16 celebration of World Food Day, a commemoration sponsored by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

Aging Catholic sisters in US, Ireland continue mission through impact investing

by Sarah Mac Donald

"Vita gave Mercy a new way of mission due to our present age profile," said a Sister of Mercy who is on Vita's board. She calls the Green Impact Fund "visionary" because of its circular model and focus on communities.

Pope's climate crisis message in 'Laudate Deum' reverberates in Africa

by Fredrick Nzwili, OSV News

The message of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum echoed loudly across Africa, where millions of ordinary people are victims of the global climate crisis.

Maryland Catholic school's aquaponics lab unites science, faith and fun

by George P. Matysek Jr., OSV News

Bright green plants at Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland in western Maryland owe their existence to fish, drawing nutrients for their growth from the cold-blooded vertebrates' waste. There's no soil around — only fish, water, plants and a system of overhead lighting, all fastidiously tended by students at western Maryland's only pre-K-12 Catholic school.

What's happening in other climate news:

UN countries agreed to support climate reparations. Now they’re deadlocked on the details. — Naveena Sadasivam for Grist

The US just made its biggest-ever investment in the grid — Jeff St. John for Canary Media

The next front in the climate fight: U.S. exports of natural gas — Maxine Joselow and Timothy Puko for The Washington Post

How gas utilities used tobacco tactics to avoid gas stove regulations — Jeff Brady for NPR

Computers translate jungle cacophony into a biodiversity barometer — Warren Cornwall for Anthropocene

Final Beat:

On Thursday, I spoke virtually with the "Care for Our Common Home Task Force" of the Diocese of Syracuse in New York. When I speak with these types of groups, they often ask what coverage we've done at EarthBeat on successful creation care efforts.

There are a few stories I always point them toward, like NCR environment correspondent Brian Roewe's story last April about how a Sacramento parish went solar and helped spark a diocesewide movement to care for creation. And Roewe's report from July on the Laudato Trees planting program that enlists Catholic properties to help increase Washington D.C.'s canopy.

On conservation, I mention Roewe's January story about how the Sisters of Loretto permanently preserved 650 acres of 'holy land' in Kentucky and Claire Schaeffer-Duffy's June 2022 feature on the St. Kateri Conservation Center.

If your church or community is involved in creation care efforts that you think other groups may want to know about, send me an email at sclary@ncronline.org. You could be featured in a future EarthBeat story or newsletter.

Thanks for reading EarthBeat!

Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org
Instagram: @stephanieclaryncr
Twitter/X: @scherp01