What would Jesus do about global warming?

AS RELIGIOUS statements go, the one by Pope Francis on the environment is readable and in places, beautiful. With a clear eye on some global climate-change diplomacy which will come to a head in December, it affirms that carbon emitted by humans is the main reason why Earth is warming, and urges rapid action, especially by rich countries, to curb it.

The document was formally presented on June 18th but leaked in draft form three days earlier. It was the first time the world’s largest religious body had devoted a big, set-piece pronouncement to the welfare of the planet, and it was a new style of papal statement. Encyclicals used to be letters to bishops; then they became missives to all Catholics; this one seems to address humanity in general. Although it often cites the green ideas of the Orthodox church, it avoids theological talk about sin and draws on non-Christian as well as non-religious sources. Many of its 190 or so pages could have come from a secular NGO; but there are tender and lyrical passages which call for a “change of heart” among consumers and decision-makers.