"As record‑breaking heat scorches much of Europe — with triple‑digit temperatures, wildfires and deaths reported — the Vatican released a new liturgy Thursday for Mass reflecting concern for the environment, offering prayers, readings and hymns that highlight the church’s responsibility to protect the Earth."
"The saguaro cactus is the iconic plant of the Arizona borderlands, and in June and early July, its thorn-covered small fruit ripens. For members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose ancestors have lived in this hot desert for thousands of years, harvest time for the “bahidaj” is sacred."
"The Interior Department plans to remove or cover up all “inappropriate content” at national parks and sites by Sept. 17 and is asking the park visitors to report any “negative” information about past or living Americans, according to internal documents."
"As a youngster, Barry McCovey Jr. would sneak through metal gates and hide from security guards just to catch a steelhead trout in Blue Creek amid northwestern California redwoods. Since time immemorial, his ancestors from the Yurok Tribe had fished, hunted and gathered in this watershed flanked by coastal forests. But for more than 100 years, these lands were owned and managed by timber companies, severing the tribe’s access to its homelands."
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from some members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe to block a massive proposed copper mine that they say will destroy a holy site in Arizona known as Oak Flat."
"The bishop sat quietly near the front row, hands folded, listening as Indigenous leaders and church workers spoke about the threats to Peru’s northern forests, a part of the Amazon rain forest. It was 2016, a year after Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment."
"Speaking on the deteriorating environmental crisis facing the world, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, stressed it is time to move “from words to action.” He said the answer to this challenge must be based on the Social Doctrine of the Church."
"For the first time, a federally recognized Indigenous tribe in the U.S. has led research using DNA to show their ancestral history."
"A cluster of evangelical groups in the state is pushing for environmental action. Leaders say they’re following the biblical mandate to care for creation."
"The solar panels on the churches were inspired by Scripture.
So were the LED lights throughout the buildings, the electric-vehicle charging stations, the native pollinator gardens and organic food plots, the composting, the focus on consuming less and reusing more.
"Pope Francis’ care for the environment was telegraphed early in his papacy. His chosen name honored St. Francis, the Italian friar who proclaimed “Praise God for all his creatures.” As pope, Francis called for immediate action on climate change and exhorted the world’s Catholics to “better recognize the ecological commitments which stem from our convictions.”"
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