Man, not God, is to blame for climate change –Palo priest

The natural disasters plaguing the world are “repercussions of the activities of man,” said Fr. Oscar Lorenzo of the Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte, according to a press release on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s website.

Palo, Leyte, was one of the worst-hit areas by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. Pope Francis personally visited the town earlier this year to meet with the survivors.

“Blaming God for climate change is wrong,” said Lorenzo in a homily. “Whatever is happening to Mother Nature now is a repercussion of the activities of man,” he added.

Lorenzo urged the Catholics to adopt care for the environment as a lifestyle though he did point out that the successive natural calamities around the world may not be what the Bible calls the “end of times,” but simply a result of humanity’s “destructive ways.”

He also called the idea of God punishing people for minor crimes using natural disasters “eccentric” and “baseless.” He cited an incident when an image of the Sto. Niño was stolen and the area was flooded afterwards, prompting people to claim that God was punishing them for the theft. — Bea Montenegro/TJD, GMA News