Project description
A closer look at the Catholic Church’s environmental history
Fifty years ago, historian Lynn White Jr. criticised the Judeo-Christian tradition for exploiting nature. Recently, Pope Francis released an environmental manifesto, advocating against climate change. Has the Catholic Church embraced environmentalism? What challenges has it faced? The ERC-funded CATCH project will document the environmental history of the Catholic Church from the 1960s to the 2000s, highlighting its global influence on environmental issues. The project will explore how the Church has shaped environmental visions and politics. It will explore the Church’s role in environmental governance at international conferences and UN debates, as well as regional case studies in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It will produce multiple academic publications and a documentary.
Objective
Fifty-six years ago, historian Lynn White Jr. published his “J’accuse” against the Judeo-Christian tradition, blaming it for fostering a culture that exploited nature. Half a century later, Pope Francis published an environmental manifesto, positioning himself as a champion against climate change. Has the Catholic Church (CC) embraced environmentalism? What have been its key environmental interventions, turning points, and internal and external frictions?
CATCH will provide the first comprehensive environmental history of the CC from the 1960s—when Vatican II intertwined with the hopes of the 1960s—to the 2000s, with the election of Bergoglio. Scholars have explored the intersection of religion and the environment from theological and philosophical perspectives, leaving historical relationships unexamined. This oversight is significant given the CC's global influence, including its participation in major environmental conferences and its potential impact on 1.5 billion people. In what ways has the CC shaped environmental visions, politics, and realities?
CATCH aims to address this gap by researching the Church’s environmental engagement across multiple scales. Globally, it will examine its role in environmental governance at international conferences and UN debates. Regionally, it will analyze the CC’s diverse experiences of engagement with environmental issues through case studies in South and North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The PI, with a strong background in environmental history and political ecology, will lead this groundbreaking research. The team will include 5 PhD students, 1 postdoc, and 1 research assistant, supported by 4 senior researchers—each an expert in one of the case studies—and an ethical advisory board with two leading theologians. The project will produce 5 PhD dissertations, a monograph, an edited volume, a special issue, 13 peer-reviewed articles, an open-access oral history repository, and a documentary.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences political sciences political transitions elections
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- humanities arts modern and contemporary art cinematography
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion religions
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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(opens in new window) ERC-2024-ADG
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15782 SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Spain
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