In December, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University conducted a national poll of 1,342 Catholic adults that explored these and other related questions. Our poll (read the full results on the CARA website) showed that most U.S. Catholics see climate change as a serious problem, but a majority believe that the church is doing enough to address global warming. Only one-third were aware of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,” and so far they are paying more attention to other issues during this election year. In general, the church’s efforts to address global warming may find the most receptive audience among young adults, those who attend Mass weekly or more often, and those who identify as Democrats.
Do Catholics see climate change as a problem? Yes. According to our poll, two-thirds of Catholics (67 percent) agree that “globally, temperatures on Earth are getting warmer, on average, in response to higher concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane.” (This includes 36 percent who “strongly agree.”) This result was not significantly different from a poll conducted by CARA in 2016. In our new poll, just over half of Democrats (51 percent) said they “agree strongly” with this statement, compared with 34 percent of independents and 19 percent of Republicans.
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