Santorum: Pope’s climate pitch is for new converts

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said Thursday that Pope Francis is addressing climate change so that the Catholic doctrine reaches new ears. 

{mosads}Santorum added that Francis’s remarks on seemingly progressive topics are merely updating his church’s teachings for a new era. 

“What the pope is trying to do is reach out to people that have not been listening, have tuned out the pope and people of faith and say, ‘They’re not relevant in my life,’” he said, according to CBS’s local affiliate in Philadelphia. 

“For the pope to engage in things that are relevant to people’s lives, who have walked away from faith or faith is not an important part of their life, he’s now tried to reach in and create a touchstone,” Santorum said. “And they’re listening because he’s speaking their language.” 

Santorum argued on Thursday that conservatives are mistaken for criticizing Francis’s message on the environment. 

He charged that Francis is more concerned with overall environmental health and less with implementing climate policies. 

“The Vatican and the Pope are not climate scientists,” Santorum said. “They’re not going to weigh in on what needs to be done.” 

“What he’s saying is, we need to address the issues that threaten the environment that God has created,” he continued. 

“We can agree or disagree as to how big a threat global climate change is, and obviously, I have some disagreements there,” Santorum added. “But the thrust of it is, we need to be good stewards of the environment.” 

Santorum, a devout Catholic, additionally said that Francis’s frequent calls for climate change action are not necessarily divorced from church doctrine.

“I think he’s really doing it in order to get peoples’ ears so they realize that this is part of a greater whole, that the environment isn’t of itself,” he said. 

“This is part of God’s creation and God’s plan and includes the dignity of life, and that includes marriage as a man and a woman, and that includes taking care of the least of us,” Santorum added. “All of these things are integrated.”

Santorum’s remarks follow Francis’s landmark address before a joint session of Congress earlier on Thursday morning.

Francis urged lawmakers to counter the negative impact of climate change during his speech in Washington, D.C.

“I call for a courageous and responsible effort to redirect our steps and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity,” the pontiff said.