Robert Prevost, newly named Pope Leo XIV, has previously expressed his position on climate change, hurtling the thorny issue back into the spotlight amid his Thursday election.
Newsweek reached out to the Vatican via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Leo, 69, became the first American pope selected by the Catholic Church. He was a missionary, then a Vatican official after spending years in Peru as a minister.
The new pontiff has previously reposted online about policy-related issues—as President Donald Trump took office after his January 20 inauguration—notably about immigration and El Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation case.
What To Know
According to The Vatican News, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost spoke during a seminar last year about the state of the environment, saying that it was time to shift “from words to action.”
The outlet also points to Prevost saying at the event, “Dominion over nature,” adding that humanity should have a “relationship of reciprocity” with the world’s environment, and that it should not be “tyrannical.”
Prevost has also warned against “harmful” technological developments and previously touted the Vatican’s commitment to the environment by praising solar panels and its growing electric car fleet, The Vatican News says.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), climate change refers to long-term change in weather patterns defining climates across the planet.
“Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the mid-20th century are driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface temperature,” NASA says in part.
There are many notable skeptics of climate change, including Trump, who has called it a “hoax” in the past.
Since taking office, Trump has implemented the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with ridding the federal budget of waste and abuse, according to his administration.
In the wake of massive DOGE cuts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has absorbed a staffing hit, affecting weather-related briefings, as Trump enacted policy rolling back climate-forward initiatives.
What People Are Saying
Vice President JD Vance posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday: “Congratulations to Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on his election! I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!”
Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday: “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”
Pope Francis, in part, in a 2023 letter on climate change: “Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident.”
Francis continued, “No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.
“Admittedly, not every concrete catastrophe ought to be attributed to global climate change. Nonetheless, it is verifiable that specific climate changes provoked by humanity are notably heightening the probability of extreme phenomena that are increasingly frequent and intense,” Francis said.
Gina McCarthy, ex-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator under former President Barack Obama, said in The New York Times last week about Trump’s environmental policies: “This is worse than any previous administration. He can do a lot of damage to the agency, and when he leaves, he will have left devastation in his wake.”
What Happens Next
Leo’s authority began immediately after being selected as the new pope.