Read

Watch

Bringing Data Analytics to the Church's Climate Change Fight

Published:
January 9, 2024
February 3, 2021
Meet Molly Burhans, the climate activist who is helping Pope Francis with climate change and saving our Earth.|Meet Molly Burhans, the climate activist who is helping Pope Francis with climate change and saving our Earth.

Climate change affects all of us. As caretakers of this planet, the responsibility to help it heal falls to every single one of us as well. Some may commit to greener living through biking instead of driving, while others work toward low- or zero-waste living. Some ditch single-use plastic in favor of reusable bottles; others recycle as much as possible.

Each of these individual actions makes a difference and should not be discounted — change won’t happen unless we all adapt our behavior. But there’s someone in our generation who is taking a crack at systemic change.

You may recall Molly Burhans from our stories about her — she is working to chart all Catholic-owned lands so as to help the Church better care for creation. When it comes to tackling global climate change, we need a global approach — and it turns out that the Catholic Church might just be one of the few global institutions positioned to take the lead in this transformation.

Not only was Molly named a “Young Champion of the Earth” by the United Nations, but she also recently caught the attention of the New Yorker for “helping Pope Francis battle climate change.” The recognition is well-deserved, as Molly has been working for years — with very little pay or funding backing her — to help the Church take care of our Earth through her groundbreaking cartography work.

“There is no way that we will address the climate crisis or biodiversity loss in any sort of timely manner if the Catholic Church does not engage, especially with its own lands and property” she shared in the New Yorker article. For Molly, Pope Francis’ letter on the environment, “Laudato Si’,” was “one of the most important documents of the century,” — but she also realized that the Church didn’t have a tangible way to carry out the objectives outlined in his letter.

So Molly set out to remedy that. Shortly after “Laudato Si’” was published, she founded GoodLands, an organization whose mission is “mobilizing the Catholic Church to use her land for good.” Her cartography work has been transformative, but it’s far from being done. Read the full New Yorker article to learn more about Molly’s expansive work in mapping and data analytics — and what drives her tireless work to save the planet.

 

 

Creators:
Grotto Shares
Published:
January 9, 2024
February 3, 2021
On a related note...
Learning to Pray Through My OCD and Perfectionism

Learning to Pray Through My OCD and Perfectionism

Molly Cruitt

Is Your Conscience Real and Does It Matter?

Is Your Conscience Real and Does It Matter?

Mike Tenney

How I'm Holding on to Faith During the Sex Abuse Crisis

How I'm Holding on to Faith During the Sex Abuse Crisis

Megan Brown Czerwinski

Join Us in Standing Up for LGBTQ Friends

Join Us in Standing Up for LGBTQ Friends

Grotto Shares

Can We Stay ‘Green’ During the Pandemic?

Can We Stay ‘Green’ During the Pandemic?

Dan Masterton

Where to Find Hope During a COVID Christmas

Where to Find Hope During a COVID Christmas

Theresa Sullivan

Meatless Friday Recipe: Tortellini Soup

Meatless Friday Recipe: Tortellini Soup

Grotto

How Do We Protect Our Peace?

How Do We Protect Our Peace?

Hannah Chartier

Supporting the Fighting Irish On and Off the Court

Supporting the Fighting Irish On and Off the Court

Grotto

Reconnecting with Nature Through an Alpaca Farm

Reconnecting with Nature Through an Alpaca Farm

Grotto

How to Use “Cues” to Form Intentional Habits

How to Use “Cues” to Form Intentional Habits

Megan Ulrich

Our Food Sources Can Help Us Build a Better World

Our Food Sources Can Help Us Build a Better World

Janelle Peregoy

A Glimpse Into the Life of a Cloistered Nun

A Glimpse Into the Life of a Cloistered Nun

Grotto

St. Thomas the Apostle Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

St. Thomas the Apostle Spotify Playlist | #GrottoMusic

Grotto

Bringing Jesus' World to Life in Nazareth

Bringing Jesus' World to Life in Nazareth

Grotto

Refugee Creates Stunning Mosaic Art

Refugee Creates Stunning Mosaic Art

Grotto

Is This What Heaven Is Really Going to Be Like?

Is This What Heaven Is Really Going to Be Like?

Josh Noem

What Volunteering as a Refugee Mentor Taught Me

What Volunteering as a Refugee Mentor Taught Me

Grotto

A Practice in Mutual Restoration

A Practice in Mutual Restoration

Nicole Watt

3 Creative Ideas for Giving Something Up This Lent

3 Creative Ideas for Giving Something Up This Lent

Emily Bouch

newsletter

We’d love to be pals.

Sign up for our newsletter, and we’ll meet you in your inbox each week.