QUESTION CORNER
Q: At Mass recently, I was stunned by a statement made by the deacon who was giving the homily. That has made me wonder whether deacons have sole independence when preparing remarks or if the priest exercises oversight. (City of origin withheld)
A: On the parish level, the pastor has the ultimate responsibility for the orthodoxy and propriety of what is said from the pulpit. To answer your question directly: A deacon does not have “sole independence” for his remarks.
In practice, though, rarely does this result in the pastor’s “pre-screening” a deacon’s homilies. By the very fact that he has allowed and invited the deacon to preach, the pastor has indicated his confidence that the deacon will handle things maturely and well. Deacons do not pop up suddenly from a congregation on a Sunday morning.
Before being ordained, deacons undergo a fairly intensive “vetting” process that includes several years of theological education, psychological evaluation and tutoring in pastoral techniques.
Returning to your question, you would be best advised to bring your concern to your pastor. If he, like you, is “stunned” by what the deacon is said to have said, he will surely bring it to the deacon’s attention to avoid future problems. If he deems it necessary, the pastor might even see fit to make a correction from the pulpit.
Why has the church bought into climate change?
Q: I am appalled that the church has apparently bought into the climate change mania. This, despite significant scientific evidence to the contrary — and especially in spite of its obvious political motivation. Am I a bad Catholic for opposing this church position? (Troy, New York)
A: Clearly, the Catholic Church views climate change as a dangerous reality in need of a global solution. In his May 2015 encyclical on the environment (“Laudato Si’”) Pope Francis said the following: “A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system.”
He continued: “Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes that produce or aggravate it.”
He also added: “There is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy.”
In November of 2015, on a plane returning from Africa, Pope Francis told reporters that an international agreement on climate change was needed to save a world “at the limits of suicide.”
The church’s moral position is based on a strong consensus within the international scientific community: Since 2001, some 34 national science academies worldwide have made formal declarations confirming human-induced climate change and urging nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
In December 2015, Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, while strongly supporting the pope’s ecology encyclical on the call for climate control, told the National Catholic Register that the pope was “not claiming any dogmatic position” or proclaiming “an article of faith.”
So, directly to your question: I suppose that you can be a good Catholic and still disagree with the church on climate change. I just wonder whether you are being a good scientist.
Questions may be sent to Father Kenneth Doyle at askfatherdoyle@gmail.com and 40 Hopewell St. Albany, N.Y. 12208.
