Brian Roewe

Catholic Relief Services, Sisters of Mercy and Franciscan Action Network were among the groups to condemn the administration as it formally began the process to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris accord.

As the fifth anniversary of the environmental encyclical Laudato Si' approaches, Catholics are working to turn the papal teaching into realizable actions and to make a more concerted effort to care for creation within the U.S. Church. 

Nick Venner, 18, is one of the plaintiffs in a groundbreaking lawsuit that argues that the U.S. government facilitated the growth of the fossil fuel industry and knew for decades about the potential climate fallout.

The Synod of Bishops for the Amazon has called on Pope Francis to allow for the priestly ordination of married men on a regional basis to address a lack of ministers across the nine-nation region.

"As the bishop of the diocese [of Rome] I ask forgiveness to anyone who was offended," Francis said Oct. 25, referencing the incident involving four wooden statues depicting a pregnant woman.

Josianne Gauthier, secretary general of CIDSE, the network of 18 Catholic social justice organizations, said that throughout the synod's three weeks a "great need" has been articulated for the church to do more to denounce destructive industrial development projects in the world's largest rain forest.

The Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM) viewed Laudato Si', and in particular its section on integral ecology, as confirmation of their work and has helped shape the upcoming Synod of Bishops focused on the Amazon region, its peoples and ecological significance.

After roughly 6,000 actions in 180-plus countries bookended by two main days of demonstrations, the third global climate strike has come to a close. Maria Lourdes Guinto, a parishioner at Our Lady of Hope Parish in Quezon City, told NCR she hoped the strike would "elevate" awareness among friends, family and others.

Covering Climate Now: In 144 countries and some 4,800 protests, young and old will join forces in the Sept. 20-27 climate strikes, part of the Fridays for Future movement begun by Swedish teen Greta Thunberg.

Faith organizations have been at the middle of momentum to cut financial ties with fossil fuels, a year after the Go Fossil Free campaign set a goal of achieving $10 trillion divested by 2020. 

Wildfires rage in the Amazon rainforest and other parts of the globe. Up to one million species face extinction, in large part due to human activities. This has formed the backdrop for the annual Season of Creation, timely tuned this year to the theme of biodiversity.

The meaning of family is at the center of a controversial decision by U.S. Attorney General William Barr that Catholic immigration lawyers say could impact thousands of asylum seekers claiming persecution due to family membership.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) sent a letter July 5 to Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop James Johnston requesting he use a new protocol created by U.S. bishops to block resigned Bishop Robert Finn and retired Bishop Joseph Hart from ministry and all church meetings and activities.

NCR interview: "If we don't get this issue right, in the end none of the other issues are going to matter, because human dignity will have been destroyed as we know it if our planet is destroyed."

Our Common Home: Catholic Charities of the Washington Archdiocese announced plans for a 2-megawatt solar array consisting of 5,000-plus panels that will provide enough renewable power to offset the energy needs of 12 of its buildings throughout the district. 

Our Common Home: Co-sponsored by the Catholic Climate Covenant and Creighton University, the June conference on climate action aimed to integrate Laudato Si' and its messages on creation care more deeply into the daily experience of Catholics in America. In a sense, to find ways to turn the big ideas into a more widespread reality.

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is the first parish to complete a solar project with Catholic Energies, a program aimed at helping church organizations implement energy efficiency projects at no cost to the institution.

The Indianapolis Archdiocese will no longer recognize Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School as a Catholic institution after the school administration refused to dismiss a teacher who is in a same-sex marriage 

Our Common Home: In their 19-page pastoral statement, the bishops called on parents, teachers and catechists to "create an environmental consciousness within all Catholic families" and challenged public officials and business leaders to strengthen water systems and pursue carbon emission reductions . "It is our hope that this pastoral statement will inspire creative, life-giving responses here in California," they wrote.

The second global #FridaysForFuture climate strike, following the first in March that drew 1.4 million people, will include a growing number of young Catholics.