Australia’s Cardinal George Pell, a known climate-change sceptic who has recently become entangled in an alleged child sex abuse scandal, has publicly decried Pope Francis‘ decision to prioritise climate change in the Catholic Church.
George Pell, who was appointed to one of the most senior positions in the Vatican last year—after becoming the inaugural Cardinal-Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy—claimed that the Catholic Church and Pope Francis had no place in becoming involved in climate change science, as urged through the Pope’s powerful encyclical released last month.
“The church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters,” Cardinal Pell said, “We believe in the autonomy of science.”
Pope Francis reaffirmed his position on the opposite end of the spectrum to Pell last month, writing that, “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”
Cardinal George Pell’s position as a climate change denier may not come as a surprise on a global level; yesterday, a global study into the concerns of climate change pitted Australia as the nation with more climate change sceptics than any other, at 17% of the population.
CC: Cardinal George Pell + the rest of that 17 per cent:
Via SMH.
Lead image by Brendon Thorne via Getty.
