Pope Francis: 'Ecological Sin' Must be Added to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

When you think of sin, what kinds of things come to mind?

Murder? Greed? Using a plastic straw?

Pope Francis has made a proposal: Add “ecological sin” to the list of wrongdoings in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

At the 20th World Congress of the International Association of Penal Law in Rome, the Bishop of Rome explained that Christians have a responsibility to save the earth.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, he believes the addition is a must:

“We have to introduce – we are thinking about it – to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the sin against ecology, the ‘ecological sin’ against our common home, because a duty is at stake.”

Catholic author Dr. Peter Kwasniewski notes there’s no such thing as sin against the planet; therefore, any inclusion of ecological menace would have to be worded so as to reference a slight against God:

“All sins are ultimately against God or those who are in God’s image. As all theologians have explained prior to the post-conciliar decline of theology, when we abuse the natural world or animals or plants, we are sinning against God their creator, who gave them to us to use for the right purposes and in accordance with their nature and ours.”

Sins also hurt people:

“The only ‘targets’ of sin are persons, since they are either divine persons who deserve our total obedience, or angelic or human persons who deserve our reverence as images of God.”

Peter seems to be on the Pope’s side in terms of man’s responsibility to the third rock from the sun (great TV show, by the way):

“Man is obliged in justice to respect God’s gift and the order He has established; man must also respect the common destination of material goods, i.e., that God has made the earth for the benefit of all, not for the selfish benefit of a few.

“Seen in this light, one can speak of sins that involve the abuse of ‘our common home,’ but one must be precise about what sin is, against whom it is aimed, and whose rights and duties are actually involved.”

Particularly those of you who are religious — and even more so, of course, those of you who are Catholic — what do you think of Pope Francis’s proposal?

Perhaps it could be said of other sins as well, but isn’t the notion of ecological sin too vague? What would constitute such? Drying your hands with a paper towel? Using Charmin instead of a corn cob? Voting Republican?

Or how about changing your drawers, you good-smellin’ a*****e?–

“A Revolutionary Fashion Brand Wants You to Save the Planet by Not Changing Your Underwear for Weeks ”

One group surely not opposed to the idea: the Church of Sweden, which — last December — declared Jesus Himself had appointed teen Greta Thunberg as his successor (here).

Is she destined for sainthood?

"People are dying … And all you can talk about is the money and fairytales of eternal economic growth."

Climate activist Greta Thunberg condemned world leaders in her UN speech today. pic.twitter.com/9HZpotSQSA

— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) September 23, 2019