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During my little walk earlier to fetch my newspaper—among a Mother's Day chorus of birds and bees going about their homemaking chores in a landscape of leaf, grass, and flower—I got to thinking about a new report on a type of insecticide that is killing bees. Of course, the death of bees will have some small or large impact on food supplies (which need bees for pollination). And so this issue about bees is one that we should be aware of. (For the record, the work of "mother bees" is important enough that it is noted specifically in the Church's Easter Exsultet hymn.)

The study, “Sub-lethal exposure to neonicotinoidsimpaired honey bees winterization before proceeding to colony collapse disorder,” is yet another alarm sounding over the often unknown effects of manmade chemicals. The paper notes in its final discussion that the “results from this study not only replicate findings from the previous study … but also reinforce the conclusion that sub-lethal exposure to neonicotinoids is likely the main culprit for the occurrence of (colony collapse disorder).”

Neonicotinoids are man-made. They mimic the insecticidal characteristics of nicotine—which occurs naturally. But as science is...

Well, it’s a wrap. Or is it?

Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility,” the Vatican super-conference of some sixty of the greatest minds in academia, was apparently so well-received that we might have witnessed not the end of the conversation between the natural and social sciences, but “the beginning of something, a new sort of communication across the disciplines.”

Those were the words of conference organizer and atmospheric scientist Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan. He was speaking during one of the many spontaneous times of reflection during the five-day event, when it seemed unanimous that the work of this pontifical gathering must continue.

But for now, the event's organizers need to rest. And we need to ponder all that happened and all that was shared.

What follows is a summary of summaries of conference news and commentary. There is certainly more—or at least there should be—and so if you know of any other event coverage or commentary, please share it in the comments below.

First, there is conference material from the event’s organizers, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. The event website is here; the event program...

They urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24: 29-32

A productive Vatican conference on global sustainability has paused for the third Sunday of Easter—a day that offers Luke’s great Emmaus resurrection account and the finding of Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

This passage, read today at all Masses across the world, has much to say about trust, doubt, hope, life, and the often unexpected place of Christ in our lives. As it turns out, it is particularly meaningful for the Vatican’s international gathering that is exploring life, relationships, and shared...

Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB, of Honduras today opened the Vatican’s sustainability conference, "Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility," by echoing every social encyclical issued by a pope in over a century.

He said that to tackle today’s ecological and economic crises we must bring about

an education on environmental values that encourages a culture of vitality, healthiness, respect and responsibility, and that builds individuals endowed with a discerning and participative conscience. As long as it is not addressed in this manner, environmental education will do no more than supply knowledge on the natural world, overlooking one of its principal roles: encouraging a change in perception that may be conducive to the emergence of new values.

In other words, our modern woes are reminding us of the dangers when we disconnect our sciences and technologies from a genuine love of neighbor. The question becomes, then, how does a culture encourage in its members something as transcendent as love?

The failure to embrace brotherly love—which quite often coincides with a rejection of God and His grace—has been a perennial concern of the Church. Leo XIII is especially known for his expression in the nineteenth century...

Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted."  John 6:10-12

Given Pope Francis’s repeated criticism of a widespread “culture of waste”—a term he often uses to connect critiques of ecological and social ills—today’s Gospel sets the stage perfectly for a big event kicking off at the Vatican: the long-awaited conference on the intersection of human desires and nature’s limits.

The conference, Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility, is the joint work of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Science. What makes this event so special is not that the Holy See’s intellectual engines are examining the subject of sustainability. This is not news. The Church has a strong track record in the...

As the Church looks forward this weekend by embracing its past, you and I are called to reflect while we celebrate.

The canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II connects the lives of two popes who, in their service to the Church, reminded us of our mission as disciples of Jesus Christ: to sanctify the world by going into ita task we can only achieve when strengthened by the grace of God.

This is the message of the modern popes—particularly Paul VI and Benedict XVI, and especially Pope Francis. But it is John Paul II and John XXIII that we acknowledge this Sunday of Divine Mercy, and so those of us who seek to enter the world to protect it should pay particular attention to what all this means.

John Paul the Great (Environmentalist)

Karol Wojtyla

Imagine what Karol Wojtyla witnessed during World War II and what he saw in Communist regimes in the years after. Imagine the filth poured upon so many remnants of Eden—the filth of war and atheistic, industrialized madness. For a man with a soul like...

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Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.