Blogs
Featured Image
Pope Francis (left), California Gov. Gavin Newsom (right)Getty Images, Shutterstock

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Three of the nation’s most radical, far-left governors – all of whom identify as Catholic despite their staunch pro-abortion and pro-LGBT stances – have been invited by the Vatican to participate in the Holy See’s summit on “climate change” this week.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the conference, titled “From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience” and hosted jointly by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, is that leaders have been called from the U.S. and around the world not because of their devotion to Christ and His Church but because of their extreme viewpoints on “climate change.” Pope Francis will receive the summit participants in an audience on May 16.

A trio of Democrat U.S. governors will be present: Massachusetts’s Maura Healy, California’s Gavin Newsom, and New York’s Kathy Hochul.   

READ: Gov. Newsom signs law allowing California to assert custody over out-of-state children for ‘gender transitions’

Elected in 2022, Maura Healey became the first lesbian governor in the United States after eight years as Massachusetts’ attorney general. In her previous role, she participated in the multi-state legal challenges that eventually overturned the longstanding Defense of Marriage Act that protected states’ rights to uphold biblical marriage, supported the codification of abortion “rights” in state law, defended mandatory contraception coverage, defended “buffer zone” laws suppressing peaceful pro-life speech and prayer outside abortion centers, and attempted to force Catholic high schools to keep employees who reject Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

Since becoming governor, she has continued to pursue pro-abortion and pro-LGBT agendas, including by funding not only the abortion industry but also disinformation campaigns against pro-life pregnancy centers and by promoting transgender hormones and surgeries for youth as a “fundamental right.” Healy is “partnered” with another woman, Joanna Lydgate. 

Healey will give a keynote address on the first day of the conference, according to the Catholic News Agency. Newsom and Hochul will deliver speeches on the second day.

As California governor, Newsom has overseen the institution of policies that force educators to lie to parents by hiding from them the claimed transgender status of their children and that allow male prisoners, including sexual predators, who claim to be “transgender” to be housed in women’s prisons. He has also worked tirelessly to maintain and strengthen California as one of the nation’s top abortion havens.   

READ: Gov. Newsom signs laws allowing minors to hide abortions, transgender procedures from parents

In 2022, the divorced and “remarried” Newsom was accused of committing blasphemy for erecting billboards in other states where abortion is restricted that quote Sacred Scripture to promote the abominable practice.  

Furthermore, as noted by The American Spectator’s Ellie Gardey, “Catholic” Newsom:  

Eased requirements for doctors to kill the elderly; transformed California into a tourist destination for parents wishing to mutilate their children; legalized human composting; attempted to infringe upon the Seal of Confession; funded embryonic stem cell research; allowed local authorities to require public bathrooms to be open to both males and females; shuttered churches and other houses of worship for an unjustified period of time; expanded access to contraceptives; and tried to force Catholic universities, churches, and other organizations to provide abortions.

New York Governor Hochul has also made her state a “safe harbor” for women seeking abortions.  

In March 2023, she pressured executives at Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid to distribute abortion pills in states that restrict their distribution. The previous year, she pledged $13 million in grants to abortionists and signed a series of pro-abortion laws in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. She also introduced an “X” gender marker for driver’s licenses. 

READ: New York becomes sixth state to legalize human composting 

Gov. Newsom praised Pope Francis’ “leadership on the climate crisis,” which he said “inspires us all to push further and faster.” California, New York, and Massachusetts have all moved to ban the sale of new gas cars after 2035, among other radical climate measures.

Pope Francis is the first pope to make so-called “climate change” an important theme of his pontificate, authoring two papal documents calling for governments and individuals to combat the perceived threat.  

The pontiff has made no secret of his zeal for the “climate change” cause and his disdain for those who challenge left-wing climate ideology and steps being implemented by governments toward mitigating the imagined threat.  

In March, Francis reemphasized a theme from his 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’, asserting, “All of us are called to an ecological conversion.”  

In an interview with CBS News broadcast on May 19, Pope Francis condemned so-called “climate deniers” as “foolish,” citing their alleged ignorance or entrenched “self-interests.”   

READ: Nobel Prize winner denounces alarmist climate predictions: ‘I don’t believe there is a climate crisis’ 

Last fall, in his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, devoted to “climate change,” Pope Francis said “obligatory” and “readily monitored” measures by all countries must be taken to address the issue of “climate change.” 

Papal promotion of the climate cause has not gone without high-profile criticism, including recently from Canadian author and psychologist Jordan Peterson. Peterson called out Francis for his focus on “climate change,” saying the pope “seems to be on about [the topic] constantly when you should be saving souls.” “That’s how you save the planet, not by worshiping Gaia,” said Peterson, referring to the pagan name for “Mother Earth.”

“I don’t see for the life of me what the Catholic Church has to do with the ‘climate crisis,’” he continued. “Just the formulation is wrong; the priority is wrong.” Peterson suggested that the current pontificate “lacks faith in its own mission.” 

READ: Greta Thunberg’s pro-abortion colleague to speak at Vatican event for Pope Francis’ new climate letter

The Vatican summit, which will be held from May 15-17 at the Vatican’s Casina Pio IV, will culminate with an outline for addressing “climate change,” a “Planetary Climate Resilience Protocol,” with all participants as cosignatories.  

According to a statement from the Vatican, the protocol will be submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) for global distribution. 

RELATED

California’s transgender policies led to sexual assaults, harassment of female prisoners, lawsuit says

Democrats’ war on parents just took a radical new turn: Taking conservatives’ children away

Newsom pardons long-dead abortionist to energize left-wing voters before election

Newsom says California will buy books rejected by school board for promoting child abuser Harvey Milk

California gave nearly $100M in tax credits to shows promoting teen suicide, promiscuity: report

Boston’s Catholic Schools Foundation invites pro-abortion lesbian governor to annual gala

New York gov. calls pro-lifers ‘Neanderthals’ as she signs 6 new pro-abortion laws

Featured Image

Doug Mainwaring is a journalist for LifeSiteNews, an author, and a marriage, family and children's rights activist.  He has testified before the United States Congress and state legislative bodies, originated and co-authored amicus briefs for the United States Supreme Court, and has been a guest on numerous TV and radio programs.  Doug and his family live in the Washington, DC suburbs.

86 Comments

    Loading...