Naturalism Replaces Supernatural Order at COP30
The Vatican News portal (November 22, 2025) reports on Joshua Cooper’s statements at COP30, framing climate change through Pacific Island experiences. Cooper equates 1.5°C warming limits with “life or death” for Indigenous communities, promotes “earth democracy” blending native spirituality with environmentalism, and echoes papal calls for “ecological conversion.” The article presents climate negotiations as moral imperatives while celebrating indigenous “ecological wisdom” and interfaith solidarity.
Reduction of Human Dignity to Naturalistic Survival
Cooper’s assertion that “1.5°C is not a target. It is a lifeline” reduces human existence to mere biological survival, ignoring the ordo supernaturalis (supernatural order). The Church teaches that man’s ultimate end isn’t temporal preservation but eternal salvation (Council of Trent, Session VI). By prioritizing earthly existence over the salvation of souls, this rhetoric inverts Christ’s warning: “Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). The article’s fixation on coastlines and material losses echoes the materialist heresy condemned in Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors: “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself with progress, liberalism, and modern civilization” (Error 80).
Omission of Christ’s Social Kingship
Not once does the article mention the Regnum Christi (Kingship of Christ), the sole foundation for true justice. Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas (1925) dogmatically declares: “Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ”. The false dichotomy between “climate justice” and “human rights” exposed here stems from rejecting the unicus magister (sole Teacher) – Christ Himself. When Cooper claims “climate justice and human rights are two sides of the same coin”, he substitutes the Social Reign of Christ with Masonic natural rights theory condemned by Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos (1832).
Pagan Spirituality Disguised as Ecological Wisdom
The article’s celebration of indigenous rituals as containing “ecological wisdom encoded over thousands of years” constitutes explicit religious indifferentism. Pius IX’s Syllabus condemns the notion that “the Christian religion is to be placed on the same level with other non-Christian cults” (Error 77). Cooper’s “earth democracy” blasphemously equates ancestral chants with divine revelation, ignoring St. Paul’s warning against “worshipping the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). The reference to “walking to the future in the footsteps of our ancestors” directly contradicts the depositum fidei (deposit of faith) which progresses only in eodem dogmate, eodem sensu, eademque sententia (the same doctrine, same meaning, same judgment) as defined by Vincent of Lérins.
Absence of Sin and Redemption Framework
Nowhere does the analysis identify climate disasters as consequences of humanity’s rejection of God’s laws. The fires in Lahaina and floods in Pacific islands recall the divine chastisements warned by Our Lady of Akita (1973) – an approved apparition ignored by neo-modernists. The article’s therapeutic language about “loss and damage” avoids the essential truth: environmental degradation stems from original sin and personal sins, remedied only through penance and conversion. Pius X’s Lamentabili Sane (1907) condemns the modernist error that “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Error 20) – precisely the anthropocentrism underlying Cooper’s worldview.
False “Earth Democracy” Versus Divine Hierarchy
The promotion of “reciprocity with the Earth” as a spiritual ideal inverts the God-established hierarchy where “man is appointed by the Creator as master of all earthly creatures” (Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum 6). Cooper’s call to “vote three times a day with what we eat” reduces moral action to consumer choices, obliterating the distinction between venial and mortal sins. True Catholic ecology – exemplified by St. Francis of Assisi’s exorcism of wolves and taming of storms through prayer – recognizes nature’s submission to Christ’s authority, not pagan “balance.”
Strategic Omission of Missionary Mandate
The article’s romanticization of indigenous spirituality deliberately avoids Christianity’s missionary imperative: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). When Cooper speaks of “learning from their resilience”, he implicitly denies the need to bring these cultures to baptismal regeneration. This violates the Council of Florence’s decree Cantate Domino (1442): “The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and preaches that all those outside the Catholic Church… cannot share in eternal life”.
The Neo-Pelagianism of Climate Activism
COP30’s focus on political negotiations and “building alliances” constitutes pure neo-Pelagianism – the heresy that man can achieve salvation through his own efforts. Cooper’s admission that “It’s not enough. It’s not fast enough” unwittingly confesses the bankruptcy of humanistic solutions. True ecological healing requires what Pius XI called “the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ” (Ubi Arcano), not UN frameworks. The article’s closing call to “listen, learn, and lead” replaces the theological virtues with secular leadership jargon, ignoring St. Paul’s triad: “And now there remain faith, hope, and charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Source:
Pacific Islands at COP30: walking to the future in the footsteps of our ancestors (vaticannews.va)
Date: 22.11.2025