During a May 20 virtual panel discussion on Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.” presented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron and San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy diverged in their assessments of the American church’s progress in advancing the encyclical’s message.

Barron said his diocese has done a lot of work to implement the encyclical, partly because of the fires and droughts common to California. But he said five years is probably too short a time frame to assess the document’s true impact.

While Laudato Si’ will be “one of the great legacies of Pope Francis,” Barron said that “it will take time for the church to assimilate this teaching into its broader social teaching.”

McElroy agreed that it’s difficult to measure an encyclical “this major a few years after.”

But he added: “At the same time, we don’t have 40 years left on the climate question if we’re not attentive to it as a global community. So my concern is that we’re not reaching out with that level of intensity.”

Full story at National Catholic Reporter.

During a May 20 virtual panel discussion on Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.” presented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron and San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy diverged in their assessments of the American church’s progress in advancing the encyclical’s message.

Early in the discussion, moderator Marianne Comfort asked participating bishops how the church in the United States has received the messages of the encyclical and what progress has been made on living out these themes.

Barron said his diocese has done a lot of work to implement the encyclical, partly because of the fires and droughts common to California. But he said five years is probably too short a time frame to assess the document’s true impact.

While Laudato Si’ will be “one of the great legacies of Pope Francis,” Barron said that “it will take time for the church to assimilate this teaching into its broader social teaching.”

McElroy agreed that it’s difficult to measure an encyclical “this major a few years after.”

But he added: “At the same time, we don’t have 40 years left on the climate question if we’re not attentive to it as a global community. So my concern is that we’re not reaching out with that level of intensity.”

Full story at National Catholic Reporter.