Justice

Pope Francis met Wednesday with a leader of Brazil's Yanomami people, who asked for papal backing for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 's efforts to reverse decades of exploitation of the Amazon and better protect its Indigenous peoples.

For decades the Catholic Worker movement has served meals at its two soup kitchens at Maryhouse and St. Joseph House in Manhattan’s East Village, feeding hungry New Yorkers from the thousands of pounds of fresh produce the workers grew at a farm in upstate New York named for the movement’s co-founder, Peter Maurin.

Years of deforestation, overgrazing, overcultivation and climate change have robbed Zambian soil of its nutrients. Catholic Relief Services is helping farmers adapt to the challenges. 

"Oak Flat is like Mount Sinai to us — our most sacred site where we connect with our Creator, our faith, our families and our land," said Wendsler Noise of Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit fighting to protect the area. "We vow to appeal to the Supreme Court." 

Kenyan Catholics and a priest-led environmental group have taken on a forest restoration project in Vihiga County. Fr. Hermann Borg, founder of Mother Earth Network, is known as "Baba Miti," or "The Father of Trees," by locals.

Catholic and Christian groups joined together March 20 to discuss a faith-driven approach to solving problems associated with climate change in a panel discussion on Capitol Hill.

Lithium is key in the global fight against climate change. But to extract it, mines suck water out of the region's water, tethered to the lives of thousands of Indigenous communities in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. 

As minerals fuel deadly conflicts in Africa, a leading cardinal urged local churches to ensure that Africa's abundant resources contribute to the benefit of its populations instead of hurting them.