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Kimberley Heatherington

Kimberley Heatherington

Kimberley Heatherington is a journalist based outside Washington, D.C. She contributes to local, national and international Catholic publications. She earned a master's in theology at Washington Theological Union and is a professed Third Order Secular Franciscan.

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Sharon Lavigne, an environmental justice activist and founder of Rise St. James, stands in front of a chemical plant near her home in St. James Civil Parish, La., March 13, 2022.

Despite new EPA rule to reduce pollution, Catholic activist says fight to protect communities far from over

A new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling announced April 6 may help Sharon Lavigne's Rise St. James and other environmental justice groups in the region in their fight.

Rubbish, most of which is plastics, is seen along a shoreline in Jakarta, Indonesia, in this June 21, 2019, file photo. (CNS photo/Willy Kurniawan, Reuters)

People in poverty, environment face toxic realities that demand united action, says Villanova panel

Perhaps the strongest message to emerge from Villanova University's April 18 Second Annual Anti-Poverty Symposium — "Unitas in Action: Fighting Poverty and Living Sustainably" — is that the intersection between poverty and environmental destruction is no coincidence. In the global chain of pollution and profit, poor communities are almost always adversely and disproportionately impacted.

A file photo shows the Flint River in Michigan flowing thru downtown Flint. Advocates and agencies in Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Flint, spoke with OSV News about clean water issues that negatively affect their communities and children long after initial contamination. (OSV News/Reuters/Rebecca Cook)

Toxic contamination of water sources poses long-term hazards to American communities and environment

Catholics advocates and agencies in Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Flint, Michigan are responding to water pollution in their communities. All three cities have had or continue to experience clean water issues due to things like chemical and radiation contamination and aging infrastructure across the country.

Monkeys cloned from a gene-edited macaque with circadian rhythm disorders are seen in a lab at the Institute of Neuroscience of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai Jan. 18, 2019. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision to lift animal testing requirements prompts Catholic reflection on what the faith teaches about our relationship to animals and responsibilities to them, particular when it comes to research. (OSV News/Reuters/China Daily)

Animal welfare groups hail FDA decision to lift animal testing requirements

Hailed as a victory by animal welfare groups, new federal legislation now eliminates a long-standing requirement that investigational drugs must be tested on animals before humans receive them in drug trials.

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