Pope Francis’ climatologist visits New Orleans

Updated 14 hrs ago; Posted 14 hrs ago

Pope Francis greets The Rev. Eduardo Scarel, a Carmelite priest known as the pope's climatologist.

By Sara Sneath


The Rev. Eduardo Scarel is best known for his role in advising Pope Francis on climate change. As such, he’s been dubbed the Pope’s climatologist. A Carmelite priest and atmospheric scientist, Scarel was in New Orleans earlier this week speaking with high school students and to an audience at the Notre Dame Seminary Tuesday evening.

Why does the Pope need a climatologist? “Because the care for environment, for nature requires to see the state of the planet,” Scarel said. “And the tools of science provide the best way to see.”

Scarel helped advise Pope Francis on the Pope’s 2015 encyclical about climate change. An encyclical is a letter to Catholic leadership clarifying the church’s stance on an issue. The 2015 encyclical argued that humans have a moral imperative to address climate change.

Sea level rise is underestimated in southern Louisiana, Tulane study finds


But the message wasn’t intended to stop with clergy. While not all priests are atmospheric scientists like Scarel, he said they should speak with their parishioners about human-induced climate change. “It’s a matter of global justice,” he said. “We now have many nations that are suffering the direct impacts of climate change.”

What’s more, Scarel said church is a good venue to talk about carbon emissions because curbing emissions requires changing culture. “From the faith we can provide our people strength enough in order to make important changes in our lifestyles,” he said. “Because climate change is related with lifestyle, with patterns of consumption, with the throwaway logic in our culture.”

Since Pope Francis published the encyclical in 2015, a discussion about the role of religion in addressing climate change has extended to scientific circles. Scarel attended the American Meteorological Society meeting in New Orleans in 2016, where there was a session to discuss the moral implications of climate change.

I lived outside for three months. It changed my life.

He urged more clergy members to read the encyclical, called “Laudato Si," and he acknowledged that there are climate change deniers within the church. To them he said, “I do believe in God. Climate change is a fact. It’s a matter of facts. It’s not a belief.”

Source