Climate change

Letters to the editor: NCR readers respond to a column where Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese says that the good news is there are ways to reduce and eliminate the growth in global warming; the bad news is he's not sure we will implement them fast enough.

"I am writing a second part to Laudato Si' to update it on current problems," Pope Francis told a group of European lawyers Aug. 21 during a meeting in the library of the Apostolic Palace.

Dealing with the climate crisis will require developing renewable forms of energy such as solar and wind power, decreasing greenhouse gases and creating more sustainable lifestyles. It also requires a change of heart.

The good news is there are ways to reduce and eliminate the growth in global warming; the bad news is I am not sure we will implement them fast enough.

At a Sunday Mass at a church in Kapalua, Hawaii, the Most Rev. Clarence "Larry" Silva, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Honolulu, appealed to somber parishioners not to abandon their faith. "If we are angry with God we should tell him so. He can take it," he said in his sermon, adding later that "God loves us in tragedies and good times and bad times."

Maui County officials confirmed late Aug. 9 that at least 36 people have died and dozens more were injured; by the evening of Aug. 10, the death toll had risen to at least 53, according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green. About 11,000 others have evacuated as wildfires burned the historic town of Lahaina "to the ground," as numerous news outlets reported. More than 271 structures were damaged or destroyed.

Fr. Thomas Reese: We are like frogs in a pot of water being slowly cooked as the temperature rises. We don’t have the sense to get out of the pot, let alone turn off the heat.

The community of Highland Falls in southeastern New York is still reeling after a July 9 rainstorm caused widespread devastation. Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish has served as an impromptu aid center and shelter for those hit hard by the storm.