While both the Jan. 24 and Feb. 7 editions of Angelus had many excellent articles about the LA wildfires, none mentioned the climate crisis. 

While we cannot definitively link any single event to the climate crisis and while human-controlled factors may have contributed, this silence speaks very loudly. Despite Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment “Laudato Sí”and his recent moral call to action on human-induced climate change, the topic has been largely avoided in Catholic circles in the U.S. 

While we are all still mourning the devastation from the fires, we cannot ignore the climate crisis as a life issue. Our Catholic leaders need to emphasize that this is a nonpartisan life issue that deserves more attention. A letter from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to Congress last month that included a call for the “decarbonization of the economy” to “remain a key priority” is a good start. 

As Christians who understand that everything is grace, we should soberly but prayerfully face a problem of even this magnitude without fear and respond with love and hope.

— Mark Rutkowski, La Cañada Flintridge