The Rev. Larry Snyder is president of Catholic Charities USA, a nonprofit that benefits the poor. In September 2009, he told The New York Times that increasing numbers of the charity’s volunteers are becoming clients.

Mary Oates is a lecturer in economics at Regis College in Weston, Mass. She is an expert on Catholic philanthropy in America.

Peter C. Phan holds the Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. His numerous books include, as author, Christianity With an Asian Face: Asian American Theology in the Making; Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue; and Vietnamese-American Catholics.

The Environmental Justice Program, a program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, educates and motivates Catholics to a deeper reverence and respect for God’s creation and encourages Catholics to address environmental problems, especially as they affect poor and vulnerable people. The program serves as a resource for Catholic dioceses and state Catholic conferences, and […]

April 8, 2013, National Catholic Reporter article about Pope Francis’ environmental beliefs.

June 5, 2013, Huffington Post article about Pope Francis’ speech on World Environment Day in which he cited scripture in calling for people to care for the environment and decried the influence of money in the world.

June 17, 2013, Reuters “FaithWorld” blog post about the historically slow pace of religions to embrace environmentalism and the possible increase in that pace thanks to the impact of religious leaders including Pope Francis.

The Rev. Patrick Howell is vice president for mission and ministry at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. He co-edited the book Empowering Authority: The Charisms of Episcopacy and Primacy in the Church Today. He has frequently written about Pope Benedict XVI for the Seattle Times.

Sandra Yocum is chair of religious studies at the University of Dayton who specializes in the history of theology, which is Benedict’s forte.