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The history of religion and environmentalism in America has been overwhelmingly Protestant for most of our history. Beloved conservationists and environmentalists such as Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt were Protestants, as were such luminaries as Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold.

But in the second half of the 20th century, Catholics became more involved in caring for creation, as did Jews. Muslims have joined the fray, as well.

When Pope Francis issued his encyclical, "Laudato Si,' On Care for Our Common Home," last year, he continued a tradition that back at least to 1971, when Pope Paul VI issued the apostolic letter "Octogesima Adveniens" ("A Call to Action"). In it, Pope Paul VI listed 11 new social problems that the Church should confront, including the environment.

"While the horizon of man is thus being modified according to the images that are chosen for him, another transformation is making itself felt, one which is the dramatic and unexpected consequence of human activity," Paul VI wrote. "Man is suddenly becoming aware that by an ill-considered exploitation of nature, he risks destroying it and becoming, in his turn, the victim of this degradation."

Prior to releasing his own encyclical, Pope Francis tweeted, "Climate change represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day."

The encyclical has had a noticeable effect on Catholics in America. We know this from a study by Yale and George Mason University, titled, "The Francis Effect: How Pope Francis Changed the Conversation about Global Warming."

The study compared attitudes before the encyclical was issued to those of people surveyed after Pope Francis visited the United States last fall. The results show that 17 percent of American overall, and 35 percent of Catholics in particular, say the pope's position on global warming influenced their own views on the issue.

The study also shows that more Americans now believe that global warming will harm people here and abroad. An increasing number are more likely to view global warming as a moral issue, a social fairness issue and a religious issue.

This concern is not limited to Catholics. Coinciding with the Pope's arrival in Washington last September, a group of rabbis held a Yom Kippur service at the Lincoln Memorial that focused on climate change. Rabbi Arthur Waskow noted that Yom Kippur is a day of atonement and that participants would be "atoning for the way in which the human race has treated the Earth, especially in the last hundred years or so."

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued a four-part study guide on the pope's encyclical. In it, they argue that climate change "is also a particularly Lutheran issue," writing that "many associate the Reformation with a series of ambiguous historical shifts paving the way for the social and economic factors contributing to the climate crisis."

Paradoxically, they note, many ecumenical theologians suggest that the eco-theological movement can be traced back to the 1950s and the work of Lutheran pastor Joseph Sittler.

While Pope Francis was garnering praise for his encyclical, Muslims were preparing their own response to the environmental issues we face. Last August, the International Islamic Climate Change Symposium was held in Istanbul.

The result was the Islamic Climate Change Declaration, which calls for a rejection of greed for natural resources, recognition of the "moral obligation" to conserve, and respect for the "perfect equilibrium" of nature. The declaration also hopes to rally the world's oil-producing nations, many of which are Muslim, to act as leaders in cutting emissions.

According to organizers of the conference, the Qur'an includes 700 verses that concern the environment and climate.

These are just a few examples of how the world's religious communities have spoken out on behalf of the environment. A comprehensive list of statements from many other faith traditions is available at the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale which can be accessed at http://fore.yale.edu/climate-change/statements-from-world-religions.

(Deacon Ayres is director of the Albany diocesan Commission on Peace and Justice.)[[In-content Ad]]

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