Pope Francis’ Encyclical on Global Warming
[Updated May 7, 2015] Encyclicals. Pope Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, will soon issue a papal encyclical on global warming. An encyclical is a document transmitted through the church hierarchy to its 5,000 bishops, and from them to all 400,000 parish priests. In this way its contents are presented to the parishioners of every Catholic church throughout the world, about 1.2 billion people. Encyclicals, wrote Pope Pius XII in Humani generis , can resolve discussion or controversy on a particular topic. He declared “…if the Supreme Pontiffs in their acts, after due consideration, express an opinion on a hitherto controversial matter, it is clear to all that this matter… cannot any longer be considered a question of free discussion among theologians.” This statement indicates that an encyclical can resolve a controversy of doctrine by establishing the Church’s position from that time forward. Clim...