EarthBeat

A local Italian group launched an online petition urging Pope Francis, the Vatican and others to stop the "fir tree-icide" of cutting down a 200-year-old red pine to decorate St. Peter's Square for Christmas.

Sundays spent in nature and a return of year-round meatless Fridays were a few of the ideas floated Nov. 13 at the U.S. bishops' meeting as ways to mark the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on ecology.

The host country for the annual summit has come under international scrutiny for human rights and religious freedom violations, leading some activists to question why there has not been more pushback from the global climate advocates, including faith organizations.

Zambia and other African nations are grappling with an extreme drought, worsened by the effects of climate change. One possible funding source Zambia has waited to access is the loss and damage fund, established in 2022 under the United Nations. 

With financing the focus at the U.N. climate conference, the Vatican secretary of state delivered to world leaders Pope Francis' appeal that wealthy nations use the 2025 Jubilee to forgive debts "as a matter of justice."

The 2024 hurricane season is nearly over. But many displaced families will continue to bounce from place to place as they grapple with rebuilding their lives after a busy storm season.

Norman Wirzba was not expecting that his book of essays about hope would land the week before Donald Trump scored a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. But the Duke theologian who writes about the environment is no stranger to contemplating upheavals, whether climate disasters, war, genocide or the excesses of finance capitalism.

Predatory practices and technology for the benefit of the powerful few have disrupted the relationship between human labor and the natural environment, said Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.