Catholic representatives worked to keep negotiations on track for a comprehensive deal to address global warming as the U.N. climate change conference entered its second and final week in Katowice, Poland.

PHILADELPHIA – An internationally renowned pioneer in climate science and climate change research, in an address at Villanova University, said that rather than "finger-pointing" about the causes of global warming, people need take collective action to slow the process.

The Vatican challenged countries gathered for the 24th U.N. Climate Change Conference to focus on the needs of the present and the future as it worked to take swift action.

WARSAW, Poland – As government delegations from across the globe prepare for a Dec. 2-14 U.N. conference on climate change, Catholic organizations are pledging to make the church's voice heard.

VATICAN – Six bishops representing episcopal conferences on five continents issued a joint statement calling on the international community to take immediate action against climate change.

As celebrations for the Season of Creation unfolded over the past month, I was struck by two vastly different experiences: one life-giving, the other literally toxic.

Catholics might finally be ready to pray for the most obvious sign of God’s goodness that has ever been seen, touched or walked through — the natural world. 

CHICAGO – Archbishop of Chicago Blase Cupich has dismissed recent allegations made by a former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., saying that Pope Francis has a “bigger agenda” to worry about, including defending migrants and protecting the environment.

Canada’s two largest churches, which represent two-thirds of Canadian Christians, have jointly declared that climate change and ecological degradation are central, enduring concerns for Christians.

It’s the timing that makes Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cap-and-trade announcement particularly ironic.

VATICAN – Pope Francis said that when he was on the Greek island of Lesbos, "while enchanted by the scenery of the blue sky and sea, I was struck by the thought that such a beautiful sea had become a tomb for men, women and children who had for the most part sought only to escape inhumane conditions in their own homelands."

When I was 10 years old, I’d spend hours creating posters that screamed out in bold letters: “Save the Whales!” 

As the first signs of spring began to appear in Toronto, a sprightly team of young Catholics decided to celebrate Earth Day by picking up trash at Christie Pits Park. 

VATICAN – The Vatican Gardens has branched out and added a small orchard to its hillsides, becoming a safe haven for a number of endangered native Italian fruit and nut tree species.

Even if spring refuses to get sprung this year after a stubbornly long winter, Earth Day will still be an intensely educational and intensely religious occasion in Catholic schools across Ontario.