Last year, President Trump announced that the U.S. will pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. But almost 600 U.S. Catholic institutions recently signed a declaration stating that they still support climate action.

Aguto: “We come upon this with a desire to take this out of the realm of partisanship and economic interest, and to work together in order to manifest climate solutions – so manifesting the most challenging commandments of our faith, which are to love our brother and sister, to love our neighbor, and most importantly and most courageously, to love our enemy, and stepping forth and building bridges towards a common future.”

Jose Aguto of the nonprofit Catholic Climate Covenant says the dioceses, parishes and schools that signed the declaration will now commit to specific actions.

Aguto: “For example, having homilies on care for creation, having educational sessions amongst parishioners or reducing your carbon footprint.”

In September, the covenant will share the commitments publicly.

Aguto: “We would love for the Catholic church to be a leader and an inspiration with regard to climate action in spirit, word, and deed.”

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media.