April 22, 2025

BRENDAN O’NEILL: The tragedy of Pope Francis.

There is a myth that the then Bishop [Jorge] Bergoglio was reluctant to become pope, as propagated by the Netflix drama, The Two Popes. In truth, as John Cornwell of Jesus College, Cambridge has written, the Argentine had a ‘well-planned set of policies ready ahead of his election’. And it was all thoroughly post-Benedict. The Argentine’s papacy would entail acceptance of ‘LGBTQ communities’, a rejection of clericalism, an openness to the idea of having female deacons, a reform of the church to make it less centralised around Vatican diktat, and – most strikingly – a new focus on the ‘climate crisis’. As Cornwell summarised it, Bishop Bergoglio, if elected, would ‘emphasis[e] sins against the environment’ rather than sins relating to ‘sex and “life” issues’. Forget fornication – it’s failing to recycle that will land you in Hell now.

When he became pope, he made good on these policies. Especially in relation to climate change. He promised to minimise the Vatican’s ‘carbon footprint’. Where once the Vatican was seen as a glorious monument to God, now it was treated as a pox on Earth. A place of wonder, art and prayer was reimagined as a drain on Mother Nature, a ‘footprint’ to be shrunk. Catholics must ‘repent’ for their sins against nature and ‘modify [their] lifestyles’, Francis decreed. One couldn’t help but wonder what god he served: the god of Christendom or the god of environmentalism? Where once Catholics pleaded with God for forgiveness, now they were instructed to appease the gods of weather with ‘lifestyle changes’. Neo-paganist rituals like recycling and carbon offsetting competed with the older ritual of communion with God.

Just in time for “Earth Day,” the DNC-MSM talking points went out:

In response, America’s Newspaper of Record has a better, more timeless idea:

Earlier: It’s Earth Day. Again. Contain Your Excitement.

Posted at 10:35 am by Ed Driscoll