What happens when oil fracking and faith communities collide?

EarthBeat Weekly
Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change

September 19, 2025

The property of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Wheeling, West Virginia (Courtesy of Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph)

After Pope Francis published Laudato Si' in 2015, Reuters reported there were 235 oil wells on land owned by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma and Texas. In years since, oil wells on archdiocesan land in California have made news for their proximity to residential neighborhoods and schools.

As more has been learned about the planetary and human health hazards incurred by oil and gas drilling, some have pushed church organizations to divest of oil lands and other investments in fossil fuels. If given the choice whether or not to support the fossil fuel industry, Catholic teaching, energy ethicists and the late pope himself suggest church entities should not.

But the Sisters of St. Joseph in Wheeling, West Virginia, face a different question: When an oil company has been given permission to drill on your land against your will, and offers take-it-or-leave-it compensation (but they're going to drill regardless), what's a Catholic to do?

St. Joseph Sr. Helen Skormisley, in an op-ed originally published by the Charleston Gazette-Mail and republished at EarthBeat with permission, shares how her congregation is navigating that reality.

"We may not be able to stop the fracking — and the likely poisoning of our community's water and air that comes with it — but we can use our voices to prevent the worst outcomes from here," writes Skormisley, who is the daughter, granddaughter and sister of miners.

What else is new on EarthBeat?

Theology must address climate change, AI, other real concerns, pope says

by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

Because "true knowledge of God is realized in a life transformed by love," the Catholic Church needs theologians whose pursuit of understanding is framed by care for the real concerns of modern men and women, Pope Leo XIV said.

You don't have to be a superhero to honor the Season of Creation

by Effie Caldarola, OSV News

None of us individually is going to save the world. But each of us can do something. And here's something that's one of the world's largest sources of microplastic pollution and energy waste. I'm talking about clothes.

Orthodox patriarch visits US to meet with Trump, receive award for environmental work

by Peter Smith, The Associated Press

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is making his first visit in four years to the United States, where he was scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump and receive honors for his environmental advocacy.

What's happening in other climate news:

Houses of worship could help fuel the energy transition. Solar evangelists are hard at work on that —Liuan Huska for Inside Climate News

California teen starts an online journal on the power of economics to confront climate change —Liza Gross for Inside Climate News

It isn't just the U.S. The whole world has soured on climate politics. —David Wallace-Wells for the New York Times Magazine

US senator calls on big oil to disclose suspected lobbying over Trump plan to axe key climate rule —Dharna Noor for the Guardian

China, climate crisis and Cop31: five takeaways from the Pacific Islands Forum —Eva Corlett for the Guardian

Illegal gold mining is fueling a 'mercury boom' in Mexico, poisoning people and the environment —Megan Janetsky and Teresa De Miguel for the Associated Press

High school football isn't ready for more extreme heat —Emma Rubin for Atmos

Final Beat:

Congratulations to Doreen Ajiambo on winning a 2025 Covering Climate Now Award in the international relations category for her coverage of African voices and women of faith at COP29!

Doreen is the Africa/Middle East correspondent for NCR's sister publication, Global Sisters Report, and has contributed to EarthBeat's COP climate conference coverage for several years.

Of her work, the Covering Climate Now judges said: "Kenya-based reporter Doreen Ajiambo connects the unique challenges that African countries and women face amid climate change to the COP29 proceedings. … Judges applauded Ajiambo's focus on perspectives that are typically underrepresented in stories about global climate negotiations."

You can revisit NCR's COP29 coverage in the "COP29 Azerbaijan" feature series.

Thanks for reading EarthBeat.

Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org