EarthBeat Weekly: The pope heads to Oceania and the frontlines of climate change

The pope heads to Oceania and the frontlines of climate change EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change August 30, 2024   Pope Francis will travel Sept. 2-13 to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore. It will be the 45th foreign trip of his pontificate and his longest trip, both in terms of distance and days away from Rome. (CNS graphic/Justin McLellan, with photo by Pablo Esparza)   Starting Monday (Sept. 2), Pope Francis will begin the longest trip of his papacy, traveling to Asia and Oceania. As NCR Vatican correspondent Christopher White reports this week, the grueling 12-day journey through four countries — Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore — will push the pope's physical abilities but provide him an opportunity to spotlight some of the signature themes of his pontificate. One of them being concern for the environment, including threats posed by climate change. Francis' first stop on the nearly two week trip will be Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia known as "the sinking city." White reports that "With an estimated 40% of the city already below sea level and Indonesian leaders moving ahead with plans to move the capital due to sea rise, Jakarta will serve as a useful backdrop for the pope to reiterate his call for global action to stave off environmental catastrophes." Read more: 2-week Asia trip will test pope's health, spotlight his signature themes Just days ahead of his Oceania trip, Francis announced "the Cry of the Earth" as his prayer intention for the month of September, which opens the annual Season of Creation. In a video, he stated "If we took the planet's temperature, it will tell us that the Earth has a fever. And it is sick, just like anyone who's sick."  "But are we listening to this pain?" he then asked.  "Do we hear the pain of the millions of victims of environmental catastrophes? The ones suffering most from the consequences of these disasters are the poor, those who are forced to leave their homes because of floods, heat waves or drought." Read more: Soaring temps a sign the planet is sick — are we listening? Pope Francis asks Francis won't be the only global leader to visit the South Pacific in recent weeks in an effort to highlight the plight of island nations from rising global temperatures. During his own multi-country tour of the region, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in Samoa when he warned that low-lying Pacific island nations face the threat of "annihilation" from rising sea levels, cyclones, ocean heatwaves and other dangers driven by human-caused climate change. "High and rising sea levels pose an enormous threat to Samoa, to the Pacific, and to other small island developing states. These challenges demand resolute international action," Guterres said, as reported by Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams, a news outlet that is part of the Covering Climate Now journalism consortium. "Sea levels are rising even faster than the global average, posing an existential threat to millions of Pacific Islanders." For island nations like Samoa to withstand climate impacts, Guterres said that countries must honor and increase their climate finance commitments. That will be a central focus of the upcoming COP29 U.N. climate summit, to be held in November in Baku, Azerbaijan. "We need all countries to honor their promises on climate finance and a strong finance outcome from this year's COP where we will discuss the financial commitments after 2025," Guterres said. Read more: In Samoa, UN chief says low-lying island nations face 'annihilation' by climate chaos     What else is new on EarthBeat:   The refugees who helped save a Baltimore parish are now planting seeds for its future by Matt Palmer A group of Burmese refugees credited with helping save Our Lady of Victory parish from potential closure have joined long-standing parishioners in starting a 3,000-square-foot community garden to yield produce for the parish's food pantry. Read more here »   Q&A with Sr. Terri Schell, sharing a Catholic approach to ecology and faith by Greta Gaffin Sr. Terri Schell is director of Shepherd's Corner Ecology Center, which she said "invites us into a wider way of relating" to Earth.  Read more here »   The Bible reveals why humans feel spiritually at home in nature by Robert "Robin" Gottfried Why does nature touch us so deeply? The Bible — one long creation/love/salvation story, a saga of God's home-building project — suggests an answer that also addresses the core of Christian faith. Read more here »   Faith, business, agricultural leaders discuss ways to respond to 'cry' of Earth, the poor by The Catholic Voice, OSV News Inspired by Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha hosted a diverse group of leaders from government, business, education, nonprofit, agriculture and religious organizations from across northeast Nebraska for a day of reflection on how to care for our common home.  Read more here »   What's happening in other climate news: Judge Blocks E.P.A. From Using Civil Rights Law in Pollution Case —Lisa Friedman for The New York Times Scientists may have found a radical solution for making your hamburger less bad for the planet —Shannon Osaka and Emily Wright for the Washington Post Houston’s Plastic Waste, Waiting More Than a Year for 'Advanced' Recycling, Piles up at a Business Failed Three Times by Fire Marshal —James Bruggers for Inside Climate News, in partnership with CBS News Biden promised to clean up heavily polluted communities. Here is how advocates say he did —Michael Phillis and Alexa St. John for the Associated Press When birds build nests, they're also building a culture —Nell Greenfieldboyce for NPR Canada wildfires last year released more carbon than several countries —Gloria Dickie for Reuters Final Beat: It has been nine years since Pope Francis formally added to the Catholic calendar an observance on Sept. 1 of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. The day, coming on Sunday, opens the Season of Creation, which Francis has also invited Catholics to celebrate. (Here's a helpful explainer on the Season of Creation.) Does your Catholic parish or school mark the Day of Prayer for Creation or the full Season of Creation? If so, we want to hear about it. Drop me a message at broewe@ncronline.org with a description of what your community is doing, whether special prayer, petitions or songs in the liturgy or events and activities outside of Mass. We'll feature some of your replies in the newsletter throughout the Season of Creation. Thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr