Following are briefs from Catholic News Service on the travel ban, climate accord and the need to safeguard creation.
Trump pushes travel ban to U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (CNS) — As the world was reacting to news about Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, lawyers for the president were asking the U.S. Supreme Court later that day, on June 1, to overturn decisions by lower courts blocking his travel ban. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a way to implement the president’s troubled executive order, which the other lower courts have blocked saying it unfairly targets Muslims, despite a revision. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as well as the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments for and against the order that aims to prevent citizens from six majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States for a period of 90 days. It also asks that refugees wait 120 days before entering the country and cuts the number of refugees the U.S. accepts each year to 50,000. The U.S. previously had accepted up to 110,000. It’s been highly expected that the fate of the order would eventually be decided by the justices of the highest court of the land, but the Trump administration is trying to speed up the pace of that decision while also wanting the order to be implemented while a decision is made.
Catholic organizations decry U.S. decision to abandon climate accord
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic leaders said President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate change agreement snubs the needs of impoverished people around the world and eschews responsibility to begin addressing the causes of global warming. They joined a broad cross section of U.S. society and world leaders and organizations in decrying the June 1 announcement. Trump’s decision sets in motion a long formal process for withdrawal from the agreement, which entered into force Nov. 4. Under rules of the agreement, no nation can withdraw until November 2019 and mandate a one-year notice period. The earlier total withdrawal can be accomplished is in November 2020. The leaders focused their concerns on the needs of communities around the world that they say contribute least to climate change but suffer the most from it. They pointed to impoverished people who have been forced to migrate to other lands to make a living because of drought, changing weather patterns or rising sea levels. Many organizations pointed to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” in which he called all people to respect God’s creation and remember that the welfare of each person is integral to human life and future of the planet.
Safeguarding creation is religious obligation, Vatican officials say
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians and Muslims, believers in one God, have an obligation to safeguard the world God created, said the Vatican’s annual message to Muslims for the end of Ramadan. “Our vocation to be guardians of God’s handiwork is not optional, nor is it tangential to our religious commitment as Christians and Muslims: It is an essential part of it,” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Bishop Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Dated May 19, the message was released at the Vatican June 2, the day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the United States from the international Paris accords, which are designed to lessen the human impact on climate change. Each year, the council for interreligious dialogue publishes a message to the world’s Muslims in preparation for the celebration of the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting. This year Ramadan ends June 24. The pontifical council chooses a theme annually to promote dialogue by “offering insights on current and pressing issues.” The theme chosen for 2017 was “Caring for Our Common Home,” which echoes Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’.”