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(LifeSiteNews) — A notorious pro-LGBT Catholic bishop has applauded incoming Biden climate czar and long-time Clinton hatchet man John Podesta for listening to what liberal clergy have to say about the environment.
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, heaped praise on Podesta, a self-identified Catholic who has fought to expand abortion for decades, during an interview with EarthBeat, a website run by dissident media outlet National Catholic Reporter.
“For him to take that much time I thought was very indicative of his care to hear what we had to say as religious leaders, and the subject in general,” Wester said.
Wester has on many occasions promoted heretical views on human sexuality and family life since being named the ordinary of Santa Fe by Pope Francis nearly nine years ago. In 2022, he published an article for heretical priest James Martin’s pro-LGBT website Outreach claiming that homosexual relationships have “positive and virtuous qualities.”
Earlier this month, Wester told EarthBeat that he was impressed with Podesta’s knowledge about the climate after having a 45-minute meeting with him at the White House last November.
“It’s a pro-life issue. We have to take care of people and human lives as well as the rest of creation,” Wester claimed.
Wester was one of three bishops to meet with Podesta. Bishop Edward Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona, and Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, also attended the gathering.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisenburger refused to grant religious exemptions. He, as well as Wester, added his name to a statement in 2021 with 12 other U.S. bishops that told young people who identify as “LGBT” that “God is on your side.”
The bishops’ meeting with Podesta was organized by Lonnie Ellis, former associate director of left-wing nonprofit Catholic Climate Covenant. Sr. Carol Zinn, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, was present as well.
Podesta is most well known for being former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff in the 1990s. He also served as the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign.
WikiLeaks emails released at that time revealed that Podesta had been plotting to foment a “Catholic Spring” in the Church with help from George Soros-funded groups like “Catholics for the Common Good” as far back as February 2012. Podesta’s goal, which has largely been realized under Pope Francis, was to push “social justice” and left-wing ideology to the forefront of the Church’s social concerns in order to minimize conservative-minded clergy speaking out on abortion, contraception, and other life and family issues.
Podesta, along with the president he now serves, has frequently been the target of allegations of pedophilia involvement. While mainstream media outlets have referred to such claims as “conspiracy theories,” WikiLeaks documents show Podesta wrote bizarrely worded emails about President Obama buying thousands of dollars of “hot dogs” and “cheese pizzas.” Some voices on social media have maintained that those were encoded messages about Washington elites engaging in human trafficking of minors.
In 2022, the Vatican signed on to the 2015 Paris Climate Accords, which supports abortion and depopulation initiatives. Francis has issued two letters on the climate since the 2013 conclave. His activism on the issue has been praised by the United Nations and leading global figures, including Bill Clinton. Earlier this month, atheist Mariana Mazzucato, a Francis-appointed member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said that society’s “common good” must be based on the United Nations’ pro-abortion Sustainable Development Goals. She also claimed that Christianity’s teachings have contributed to “climate change.”
Podesta, 75, will replace John Kerry, also a self-professed Catholic, as Biden’s climate adviser. Kerry had previously been a Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts and secretary of state under Barack Obama. During his tenure, he worked to expand pro-abortion and pro-LGBT policies.
Washington residents: Click here to lobby your legislators and bishops today