China is developing a vast geographical infrastructure known as the Belt and Road Initiative, creating a new Silk Road. This project uses shipping, port development, railroads, and highways to increase global trade and generate trade revenue for China. In the last decade, China has spent massive amounts of financial and physical resources on this effort.

The British medical journal The Lancet recently reported that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, “1.5 million children around the globe have lost a parent, guardian or grandparent who helped care for them” (The Hill, July 21, 2021).

Australia has endured fires, drought, cattle loss, and much more. Its ongoing plague of mice now threatens crops. The New South Wales’ primary crop association predicts the mice could “wipe more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($775 million) from the value of the winter crop” (AP, May 28, 2021). Mice seem to be everywhere.

For years, the Vatican has promoted the pope’s Laudato Si’ message. This plan, “designed to encourage strategic actors to commit to achieving total sustainability with Pope Francis’s environmental advocacy as a guide,” kicked into gear this year (CruxNow, May 25, 2021).