Negotiating Natural Gas, Negotiating Just Futures

Pope Francis’s 2015 Laudato Si’ inspired commentators to wonder about the relationship between the Catholic Church and socio-ecological justice. Such queries reflected a broader growing interest in the hypothesized “greening of religions.” Intellectuals working within and beyond the Catholic Church began reflecting on the potential for socio-ecologically conscious Catholicism. Yet despite such increased concern, few studies have empirically assessed Catholicism’s socio-ecological entanglements. I aim to address this gap by examining Nazareth Farm, a Catholic intentional community located in north-central West Virginia and long committed to justice as envisioned through Catholic Social Teaching. However, since unconventional natural gas extraction began to boom, the intentional community has struggled to materially advance socio-ecological justice. This paper examines how Nazareth Farm sought, in practice, to negotiate natural gas’s growing hegemony. In so doing, it also reflects on the obstacles hampering those who imagine just futures encounter while trying to make their visions take place.