he says he asked her if he had reached planet earth was not a frank. he called his parents to wish them a merry christmas. he had to leave a voice mail because they weren't home. keep it here on al jazeera. on "america tonight" the mother church. >> this is the fist catholic cathedral in the united states, so every catholic church throughout the united states are daughters of this church. >> adam may on the baltimore beauty hidden by history but resurrected for the faithful. down to earth. >> is this what the pope should be talking about? >> he has no choice but to speak out on that. >> in the heart of coal country, what does it mean when the pope speaks of heaven and earth?

thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. this brought a number of firsts to the catholic church in america. pope francis led the way to new conversations about immigrants, the poor and our environment. his first major teaching document focused on a subject no pope addressed that way before, global warming and climate change, and for american catholics long-committed to activism, the pope's words mark a turning point for the faith. >> in the beginning god created the heavens and earth and the earth was without form and void. >> to hear john rousch tell it, the idea of protecting our earth began with the one who was there in the beginning. >> when you think about the first chapter of genesis, the first couple of chapters of genesis, you really have a plan of god, that god was the god of life. >> out here in the heart of

appalachia under the vast blue eastern kentucky sky, it is hard to separate god from the glory of nature. >> as we walked through here, there's such a biodiversity and interdependence on the life structures. whether it's a little ant or a little spider, a tree, a shrub, all these things are integrated together. >> does this have to do with faith? >> it sure does, because we are part of nature. >> rousch learned to approach that when he arrived in appalachia 45 years ago to work with the region's poor. >> after a while i started to look over their shoulder, and i would see the mountains in the background. it slowly made a change in me. i could still see the person, but i could now see the person in a context. the context

-- the context of the beauty of creation. i'm sorry. i'm really passionate about this. >> it was their human suffering that redefined his life's work. >> i'm not an environmentalist, i'm a theologin. i integrate with my faith with how i try to live. >> and the pope? >> the pope is the same. he's a priest. a priest basically -- this is the amazing thing. the priest is supposed to be one who kind of like is bringing heaven and earth together in a harmony. [ singing ] >> here in the heart of coal

country usa, father john also learned that's not always an easy case to make. >> you formed us in your own image and set us over the whole world in all its wonder. >> the faithful here have long lived dependent on an industry often seen at odds with the environment. >> discover god in all things. >> there's a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person's face. >> in a churn that sits directly across from an abandoned coal plant, a sermon about climate change is often not welcome. when you deliver a homily, do you know there are people out there that would like you to stop talking about these issues? >> yes. some people have gotten up and walked out. now, that's not something i want to encourage.

>> why do they want walk out? >> they walk out, i believe, because they don't -- they feel like i have become too partisan political. >> but here in the other america of eastern kentucky where coal mining jobs dropped to ha what they were a few years ago and catholics make up only 3% of the population, father john has maintained something of a personal ministry pressing his flock to understand that close connection between earth and man. we listened in as father john drove out to a former strip mine with parishioner rick whitley. >> i know what coal mining is not going to, you know, suit everybody. >> as they study the mountain blasted away for the riches beneath its surface, whitley

gently reminds his pastor of the priorities in this community. >> you know, i don't really push coal. >> yeah. >> but these people actually around this area love in it in that it provides jobs and the economy booms with the coal. >> while coal is so essential to the industrialization of america, right now it just strikes me that we're into another era altogether. i think we're into the era of looking after the environment, because unless we do that, we are going to be sick. we are going to be strapped for resources that we need. >> after four decades of preaching that message about the wilderness -- >> god created man in his image. >> -- father john found it echoed in pope francis' document on the environment.

it was released this summer. >> if i can quote from it, we have a god of life, and it's from the scriptures in all these verses that, you know, point to let us know be stewards and really cultivate and not just take. >> for the pastor, it was an unexpected shot of support. you've been campaigning for the environment for decades. >> yeah. >> what did you think? >> i wanted to say yay. i wanted to say yay. >> did you feel vindicated? >> absolutely correct. also, i also had some more information and moral persuasion to apply to congregations to say that, you know, this is part of catholic social teachings now, is that we look after the environment. >> a chemist by training, the pope signaled his determination to press environmental issues

from the start. taking the name francis, the patron saint of nature. his encyclical mentions climate change and ties global warming to human activity generated controversy even before its release. prominent american catholics urged him to steer clear of political subjects. too. >> every sermon is political. if you sit around saying love, love, love and don't make it concrete, then everybody goes home, oh, that's a lovely sermon. >> is this what the pope should be talking about? >> he has no choice but to speak out on that. the same way if one country decides to go to war against another country. you would say, wait a minute, we better speak against violence against people. if you destroy the earth, you're doing violence against people. you're also doing violence

against god's garden, god peace gift. our society is bombarding us with noise. >> now 70 father john finds himself renewed by daily con tell me plagues and by his connection with nature. >> you can play skip the rock, okay? i'm going to try it, okay? here we go. >> that was awesome. >> that was about four. >> it's places like these, he says, that spiritual leaders must protect as true evidence of their faith. is this what the pope meant? >> i would think pope francis would be right alongside us, and he would be skipping rocks the same as us and maybe we'd have a prayer together. it would be a prayer of thankfulness and nice going, god. next, a prayer for another future. the nut centerhood.

and why a young woman would choose it today. >> we always portray it as no sex, no money, you have to do what the superior says. that sounds horrible. who would do that? >> "america tonight" with a spirited choice. later looking up. long hidden from view, the rebirth of america's mother church. >> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target.

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>> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> you're watching al jazeera america. now an acts of faith. when the pope came for the first visit to the united states, he sparked a conversation about inspiring a new enthusiasm for the catholic church. especially among young people. researchers say that two years into his papacy is early to determine whether there is a francis effect bringing a new generation into religious life. "america tonight" has found in one community a surge in the sisterhood. [ singing ] >> society portraying religious life a lot as giving up things. we always portray it as like, okay, no sex. no money. you got to do what the superior says. that sounds horrible.

who would do that, you know? i think that's kind of the idea that i had going into it, which added to my terror. >> as a teenager in catholic school, tracy never imagined that she might one day become a nun or a sister in the church. >> i'm like, nobody does that anymore, right? young people don't do that anymore. it wasn't even something i considered. >> in her early 20s she had a serious boyfriend and plans to eventually walk down the aisle. when she pictured herself growing old with him, something wasn't quite right. >> i was so in love with him, but when i thought about marrying him, it felt like a door closing. i thought about religious life, even though every ounce of me did not want to feel this way, it felt like a big, blue sky opening up. >> she'd been volunteers in

ecuador and teaching children o underprivileged children. it was a world different than an upper class cincinnati neighborhood. >> i felt this call to do something with my life to make the world a little place. that's when the little seed started to grow. >> at 22 she says she had her first call from god. what does god's call sound like? >> i wish it was a phone call on a cell phone. that would make it a lot easier. i was sitting on a beach in ecuador when i was praying, and i was thinking about the boyfriend i had just broken up with and i was missing my family. i was just kind of asking god, like, what is all this about? i felt from somewhere -- it's not like a voice i heard, but i felt this feeling like ushgd be a nun. i was like who said that, you know? over the next couple of days it was really clear that god was inviting me to something.

>> she made her first vows to religious life over the summer. she's one of six women in the last couple of years to join in cincinnati. that's six more than than that group has had in the last decade. though she doesn't wear a traditional habit, she has taken a vow of celibacy, obedience and poverty. things that reinforce her commitment to god and her live lived in community with others. part of her poverty vow, is sharing her possessions with her roommates, two of whom are more than twice her age. what's it like living in a house together four weeks in? >> it's disgusting. >> what have you discovered so far? >> well, i've discovered people's interests, people a's idios. >> there's something in their 50

and their 20s and 60s and 70s. who would think that this would be a group of roommates? who would think this would be a group of roommates? what do you say to that? >> there's so much more than roommates. we're in this for life. >> it's a gift in a lot of ways and a struggle in a lot of ways. we're going to use the gospel this morning. the beauty is living together with women with all different experiences, different kinds of wisdom from the age that they are and being able to share that together in prayer in the morning. >> what has been the most difficulty part of this process for you? >> just being a younger cente center -- younger sister in a world of older sisters. there are very few 28-year-olds surrounded all the time by people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. there's a lot of sickness and death. people who are coming to the end of their life, whereas i'm just coming into mine full steam ahead. >> i wonder, you know, how they

do it. they do it well. they seem to fit in easily. i think baudz there's something deeper than just the companionship. >> 91-year-old sister joan mir yam jones sees the small surge of women in her congregation as a welcome surprise. things are different now from the time she became a sister at age 19. >> now the young people are actually much older than that. what do you think of that? >> that's right. well, i think it's a sign that -- of the change, of the evolution that has come about in religious life. you know, that you're not ready as young as we were. >> why do you think you were ready so young? >> you and -- you ask hard questions. >> what have you seen change for

the way that women are? >> well, involvement in ministry, i think, would be a huge one. time was when we were assigned school, hospital, whatever , and you did what you were asked to do. now we choose the ministry that appeals to us. >> she spends her days now doing outreach in cincinnati's latino community. she says her new role as a gift. >> at the end of the day, there's such a deep sense of joy. not like happiness. i just ate some really good ice cream so i'm happy, but a sense of abiding joy that lasts. >> some might argue you can still have the things that you have to give up without having to become a sister. >> yeah. i have a lot of people ask me that, and that was a question i discerned for myself. i compare it to someone that

feels very, very incredibly called to be a mother. someone could say to them, well, you don't have to have your own kids. you could just like become a baby-sitter and have people over at your house all the time. you could have that as part of your life. so for me, having this as the number one is the only way that it felt like enough. my number one relationship and commitment in my life is with god and my congregation. >> for her parents who once watched their daughter play maria, a woman who considers becoming a nun in the high school performance of "the sound of music," growing accustomed to her real-life decision has been a learning experience but one they have come to welcome. are you happy she made the decision she answer honestly. >> i'm happy that she's doing what she wants to do.

you were talking to patty. and she said she's gotten used to it. >> do you have any regrets? >> i don't have any regrets. i feel like i had a really good discernment process, i have a lot of really good people that helped me along the way, and i feel like i've found the life that i'm meant to live. >> al jazeera, cincinnati. next, raising faith. the basilica reborn and children raised in its image.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. >> what, as if there were no cameras here, would be the best solution? >> this goes to the heart of the argument. >> to tell you the stories that others won't cover. how big do you see this getting? getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> we're here to provide the analysis... the context...

and the reporting that allows you to make sense of your world. >> ali velshi on target.

finally we look to a change in the home of worship. in many ways the place which gave birth to the spread of catholicism in america, resurrected from a nearly history, it is a worthy place of co contemplation for america's catholics. >> the ba sis cal of the assumption, a relatively unknown cathedral in baltimore, maryland is considered by many z athe birthplace of catholicism in america, a true symbol of religious freedom. >> this is the mother church. this is the first catholic cathedral in the united states. so every catholic church

throughout the united states, they are all daughters of this church. >> bob knows this church better than just about anybody . as the operations manager, he's the go-to guy on every nook, cranny, and historic cal note. >> the lord be with you. >> and also with you. >> a reading from the holy gospel. >> here catholic mass takes place every day as it does in thousands of chufrjs and cathedrals across america. but that wasn't always the case. >> it was a lot of distrust and dislike for catholics in this country. when this church was connecticut received of, the whole concept of having a catholic church in a former english colony was unheard of. prior to 1776 it was against lat you to be a catholic or anything other than a member of the anglican church. >> america's independence

changed that, and john carroll had the vision and money to build the cathedral. in the early 1800s, as the first catholic archbishop in america, carroll those benjamin henry latrobe, one of the architects of the u.s. capitol, to build the basilica. he decided on the simplest possible neoclassical design. not a fancy gothic church like in europe so all denominations felt welcome. construction began in 1806. which baltimore? >> baltimore was a major port of debarkation for i am grants coming into the country. that's why some of the first churches that started here were ethnic churches. lithuanian, polish and italian. they all started up based on what had happened here. this was a grand experiment. >> how significant is the dome

to why this is such a beautiful building? >> it's a two piece dome with 100-ton of brick. it's a dome within a dome. that is a centerpiece, and the thought was piece the outer dome with skylights to allow light to filter into the church to shoez sitting under the dome see this light from above. >> what do you like best about this building? >> for many every piece of this church is beautiful. i especially do like the underkroft. >> the underkroft is down a set of stairs underneath the main room of the church. this intricate structure in the basement supports everything above, including the double dome, the arches and an architectural device born of necessity. >> this is the foundation of the building of the american catholic church? >> that's correct. this is the foundation and the

building has stood through the weathering of the community, the changes in faith. >> through the 20th century, time was not so kind to the basilica of the assumption as local parish churches grew popular, it lost members. even more, the church lost its luster. >> this church became the church that john carroll didn't want. cathedral. >> in the spring of 2004 it closed its door for a two-year $40 million overhaul. it lost members, but not the city's love. >> for this is my body which will be given up for you. >> its rebirth accomplished with money mostly donated by the citizens of baltimore. it's a church that for nearly 200 years has stood the test of time. its history and symbolism now preserved for a new generation of worshippers.

>> as you're sitting under that dome on a day like today and the light is filtering down through the dome, you don't see the source. you know the direction it's coming from. >> adam may, al jazeera, baltimore. and that is faith in the future. that's "america tonight." please tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americantonight. talk to us on twitter and facebook and come back. we have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. >> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. shah

one of syria's most powerful rebel leaders is killed in an air strike. hello. from al jazeera. also in the next half hour, holidays going up in smoke, bushfires force tourists to take refuge in evacuation centers in australia. more than 100,000 people were forced from their homes by severe flooding in south america. plus. >> reporter: i am at the camp where displaced