The Pope ‘combats’ climate change

Weighing in: A poster of Pope Francis with his handwritten letter is pictured the day when his encyclical on climate change titled Laudato Sii was presented on June 18 at the Vatican. — AFP

WHODUNIT? That’s the question roiling the Western presses right now, as the release of Pope Francis’ hotly anticipated encyclical on climate change set for release this week had the wind knocked out of it when the draft was apparently leaked to a Rome newspaper, which then published it.

It’s not just that the encyclical on the environment is controversial enough; many conservative elements in the Church and society at large are critical both of the science behind global warming and the idea that a pope, for the first time in history, would weigh in on a subject that until now has been the province mostly of scientists and politicians.