At GCU, theologian stresses empathy, listening when discussing climate
April 3, 2025 at 10:29 a.m.
While 80 percent of Americans believe the climate is a problem, only 30 percent actually talk about it, said Dr. Erin Lothes, a theologian and researcher who was keynote speaker at Georgian Court University’s Critical Concerns Week.
Recognizing the polarization about climate in society and the Church, Lothes stressed the importance of empathy and sacrificial listening when she addressed members of the GCU community and members of Diocesan Laudato Si’ or Creation Care ministries as well as others concerned with the climate.
Lothes’ March 27 address, “Caring About the Climate Crisis: The Challenge of Change,” was in keeping with the theme of this year’s Critical Concerns Week, “Earth: Exploring an Integral Ecology.” Each year, the week highlights one of the Sisters of Mercy’s five critical concerns – women, migration, earth, racism, and violence – and incorporates daily meditation, prayer, dance, graphic design projects, group activities, presentations and panel discussions.
Lothes, who holds a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Fordham University and an M.A. in theology from Boston College, researches energy ethics and the faith-based environmental movement. She has collaborated with many faith-based environmental coalitions.
Lothes described three “gaps” in addressing the climate situation: the knowledge gap, the caring gap and the action gap. Because the topic is so complicated and science can be difficult to understand, it is almost expected that there would be a knowledge gap, she said. In addition to lacking scientific knowledge, people may live in environments where they have very little exposure to nature or the environment.
She said the caring gap is created when people have knowledge, but they feel conflicted. The consumer culture and desire for comfort and affluence put people in conflict with the action needed to demonstrate they care.
What blocks people from taking action are the common responses heard such as “I’m too (busy, comfortable, overwhelmed, etc.)” or “I don’t know what to do.”
“We need critical actions in response to the cry of the earth,” Lothes said and offered five solutions: No plastic, compost more and eat less meat, use renewable energy, divest, and collaborate.
Lothes described the “attention economy,” in which attention is a commodity, vied for by competing subjects. This makes it hard for people to renew themselves in the beauty of nature and ensure a healthy spirituality. People must “envision what the future should look like. What’s the beautiful tomorrow you want to live?” Lothes asked the audience.
One attendee, Msgr. Vincent Gartland, reflected on how important the earth and the care of creation must be, since Pope Francis has an unlimited number of issues to focus on, yet he has made this one of his primary concerns.
Paragraph 180 of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, ends with “Truly, much can be done.”
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While 80 percent of Americans believe the climate is a problem, only 30 percent actually talk about it, said Dr. Erin Lothes, a theologian and researcher who was keynote speaker at Georgian Court University’s Critical Concerns Week.
Recognizing the polarization about climate in society and the Church, Lothes stressed the importance of empathy and sacrificial listening when she addressed members of the GCU community and members of Diocesan Laudato Si’ or Creation Care ministries as well as others concerned with the climate.
Lothes’ March 27 address, “Caring About the Climate Crisis: The Challenge of Change,” was in keeping with the theme of this year’s Critical Concerns Week, “Earth: Exploring an Integral Ecology.” Each year, the week highlights one of the Sisters of Mercy’s five critical concerns – women, migration, earth, racism, and violence – and incorporates daily meditation, prayer, dance, graphic design projects, group activities, presentations and panel discussions.
Lothes, who holds a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Fordham University and an M.A. in theology from Boston College, researches energy ethics and the faith-based environmental movement. She has collaborated with many faith-based environmental coalitions.
Lothes described three “gaps” in addressing the climate situation: the knowledge gap, the caring gap and the action gap. Because the topic is so complicated and science can be difficult to understand, it is almost expected that there would be a knowledge gap, she said. In addition to lacking scientific knowledge, people may live in environments where they have very little exposure to nature or the environment.
She said the caring gap is created when people have knowledge, but they feel conflicted. The consumer culture and desire for comfort and affluence put people in conflict with the action needed to demonstrate they care.
What blocks people from taking action are the common responses heard such as “I’m too (busy, comfortable, overwhelmed, etc.)” or “I don’t know what to do.”
“We need critical actions in response to the cry of the earth,” Lothes said and offered five solutions: No plastic, compost more and eat less meat, use renewable energy, divest, and collaborate.
Lothes described the “attention economy,” in which attention is a commodity, vied for by competing subjects. This makes it hard for people to renew themselves in the beauty of nature and ensure a healthy spirituality. People must “envision what the future should look like. What’s the beautiful tomorrow you want to live?” Lothes asked the audience.
One attendee, Msgr. Vincent Gartland, reflected on how important the earth and the care of creation must be, since Pope Francis has an unlimited number of issues to focus on, yet he has made this one of his primary concerns.
Paragraph 180 of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, ends with “Truly, much can be done.”