According to Catholic presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, the Pope’s upcoming encyclical on the environment is beyond the Church’s area of expertise, and he should just “leave science to the scientists.” (Santorum conveniently forgot that the Pope studied Chemistry before entering Seminary.) However, Santorum is also forgetting the long history of formal papal involvement in global affairs and politics. Scholar Kevin M. Lowe, who’s written on the history of papal advocacy in Religion Dispatches, joins Welton to discuss the Pope’s encyclical, the Catholic voices of opposition, and ways the Vatican has historically impacted global affairs.
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