Jerry Brown was once a seminary student at a Jesuit University. Now as Governor of California, he is resonating with Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si. Under the pope’s influence, Brown says, “What’s unacceptable becomes acceptable.” Brown is now assisting the pope by seeking partners for his own push to reduce greenhouse gases. Brown also intends to attend the climate summit in Paris in December. In the mean time Brown is appealing to others throughout the Americas to lay groundwork for achieving an agreement in Paris.
For Brown, the climate change issue melds spiritual and political worlds. “Religion deals with the fundamentals,” Brown said. “When you deal with the fundamentals of what makes the atmosphere, and the weather, and whether that permanently or radically changes, that’s very similar to a fundamental principle of right and wrong.”
Though Brown did not stay in seminary, he is religious. But his Jesuit background has remained a constant influence. It’s in his blood,” said Father Michael Kennedy of Los Angeles, a priest who knows Brown. It has an influence on your life, how you think and how you see the world.”
“Religious fanaticism has caused countless bloodshed, even today,” said the governor, “but there is also within religion a tradition of liberality, of respect for the individual and of compassion.” To him, that’s where politics and spirituality intersect.
When he became governor the first time in 1975, Brown told a group of priests that his approach to government would mirror some rules set by St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits. Though he later said his comment was “offhand,” he added, “I do find the rules significant.”
A year later he said, “I have been brought up in the Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, and redemption is at the very core of that religion.”
Speaking to group of religious leaders in Mexico City, he said that the debate over immigration law is “missing the witness of the church.”
Browns views on climate change align with the pope’s, though he takes a different tack on legalized abortion and same-sex marriage. He “clearly welcomes the coalescence of climate change and religion in the pope’s encyclical. Francis’ involvement, Brown said, is ‘bringing a moral and theological dimension that adds to the market and political calculations.’”
The pope is clearly trying to influence politics morally, and the governor is taking up the challenge of defending the pope’s position. “The science is clear,” the governor tweeted once in response to negative remarks about the pope’s encyclical from Rick Santorum, a Catholic Pennsylvania Senator who is running for U.S. president. “Climate change is not a hoax, but an existential threat. Get with the science, get with the @Pontifex.” (the pope’s Twitter name).
“All the world wondered…” Revelation 13:3
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