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A nativity made of environmentally friendly materials is pictured near the Redemptorist monastery in Hue on Dec. 17. (Joachim Pham)

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The climate is changing,
a matter of moral urgency.

How Catholics and other faith groups speak out and take action. Where ecological concerns and moral conviction meet, well that's our beat.

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Faith

In Vietnam, Christmas crèches deck the halls in environmental awareness

Environmental Christmas crèches are part of a growing trend among Catholic parishes in Vietnam, as a way to echo teachings of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home."

Joachim Pham

A girl fills a bottle with a hose to bring drinking water to her home in a poor section of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 27, 2024. (OSV News/Reuters/Agustin Marcarian)

Science

For Boston College public health expert, a treaty on plastics is a matter of morality

Dr. Philip Landrigan, an epidemiologist and pediatrician who has studied the health impacts of plastics, spoke with EarthBeat after U.N. negotiations adjourned Dec. 2 without a treaty to address plastic pollution.

Brian Roewe

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his final address to the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City Sept. 24, 2024. (OSV News photo//Mike Segar, Reuters)

Politics

Biden just set a big new climate goal. Can the US achieve it?

The White House announced a new national goal that would see the country's greenhouse gas emissions drop up to 66%, but its fulfillment may fall on states and cities during a second Trump administration.

Sister Emma, left, and Sister Agnes, right, are pictured with a family from the Ranikhong Parish who received a tube well from the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Bangladesh. (Sumon Corraya)

Justice

Nuns provide hundreds of tube wells for safe drinking water in Bangladesh

The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Bangladesh, and the local Catholic Church are making a difference by addressing the persistent challenge of access to safe drinking water.

Sumon Corraya

Mary Beth Keenan's daughter touches daffodils in their yard. (Courtesy of Mary Beth Keenan)

Small Earth Stories

Faith and a forest preschool help our family care for creation

Mary Beth Keenan

After "Bluey," the Holy Spirit and Google led this mom to enroll her 3-year-old in a forest school, her whole family learned more about caring for creation and cultivating community — with human and nonhuman friends.

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