How the Catholic Church, Trump politics and climate change intertwine in Latin America

Historic unrest and short-term political memories could make global warming a bigger priority in next few years.

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Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, making him the first pope from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere. Photo: Catholic Church England and Wales.

(Michael Molinski is a senior economist at Trendline Economics. He’s worked for Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo, and previously as a foreign correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.) 

PALISADES, New York (Callaway Climate Insights) — I attended mass last Sunday in one of the Catholic churches near my house in suburban New York, and what I listened to was a sermon that urged people to “rise up against the evil forces” and not let them force them into cowering behind closed doors.

It sounded as if I was transported back in time to Central America, where as a war correspondent during the Contra War in Nicaragua I often heard priests incite the masses to revolution, rising against tyranny, and echoing the message from the “liberation theologists.” But this was America. This month!