Laudato Si’

Holy Father Francis’ encyclical letter on care for the common home

Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato si‘ was published on May 24, 2015. It consists of six chapters and 246 paragraphs. At the end are two prayers, “One that can be shared with those who believe in God the Creator and Almighty, and another that we Christians may know how to assume the commitments to creation that the Gospel of Jesus proposes to us” (No. 246). II title of the Encyclical Letter, “Laudato sì,” is the beginning of St. Francis’ Canticle of Creatures, and-really a novelty-for the first time it is not in Latin.

The subtitle reads: On Care for the Common Home

Introduction

In the Introduction, Pope Francis states that “the Earth is the common home where we all live, but also a sister with whom we share existence and a beautiful mother who welcomes us into her arms” (No. 1). He added, “This sister today protests the harm we cause her because of the irresponsible use of the goods God has placed in our hands” (No. 2).

Beginning his reflection, the Pope refers back to the thinking of his predecessors, particularly the teachings of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul Il and Benedict XVI, and recalls their calls to curb the unconsidered exploitation of the earth’s resources and to overcome the selfishness of consumerist societies (No. 6). Pope Francis, throughout the Encyclical, also frequently refers to the interventions of the various Bishops’ Conferences, thus giving his magisterium a universal scope. He then recalls how the care of creation is the commitment of all, believers and non-believers alike, and he also welcomes the reflection of other Christian denominations on this issue and praises their commitment (no. 7). In particular he relates the thoughts of Patriarch Bartholomew (nn 8 and 9).

It then recalls the figure of St. Francis of Assisi, and emphasizes how the poverello manifested “a special concern for God’s creation and for the poorest and most abandoned” (n. 10), thus anticipating an “integral” vision of ecology that the Pope will develop in the continuation of the Encyclical. The Introduction ends by stating that this document should be considered part of the Church’s social magisterium (no. 15).

Chapter One: What is happening to our home

In the first chapter, entitled What’s Happening to Our Home (nn. 17 – 61), the pope takes a close look at the dangers facing the “home in which we all live” (n. 17) and does so by making use of the latest scientific findings on the environment. He addresses, in a lucid manner, some very topical issues of concern about the dangers facing the environment.

The first element of concern that the Pope recalls is the pollution that causes climate change: “A global problem with serious environmental, social, economic, distributional and political implications.” Considering then that “the climate is a common good, of all and for all,” he notes that the heaviest impact of its alteration falls precisely on the poorest (No. 23). The Pope forcefully denounces how many who have economic resources and political power today often mask these problems, and notes how the lack of reaction in the face of these dramas of our brothers and sisters is “a sign of the loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow human beings on which every civilized society is founded” (no. 25).

Another aspect considered is the issue of drinking water, an element of primary importance because it is necessary for human life (No. 28). “Access to safe and potable water is an essential, fundamental and universal human right, because it determines people’s survival,” so that to deprive the poor of access to water is to ‘deny them the right to life rooted in their inalienable dignity’(no. 30).

He then talks about the loss of biodiversity. “Because of environmental degradation, thousands of plant and animal species are disappearing every year that we will no longer be able to know, that our children will not be able to see, lost forever” (n.33).

And it is not only a matter of considering the ultimate loss of any exploitable resources, but also the loss of the value in themselves of these creatures: “All creatures,” he says, “are connected to each other, the value of each must be recognized with affection and admiration, and all of us, created beings, need each other” (no. 42).

Broadening the horizon, the Pope then denounces another negative phenomenon: the deterioration of the quality of human life and social degradation. Since the human being is a creature of this world, with the right to live and be happy, Pope Francis invites us not to neglect to consider also the effects of environmental degradation on people’s lives: “Apart from the damage that results from pollution and degradation, it does not befit inhabitants of this planet to live increasingly submerged by concrete, asphalt, glass and metals, deprived of physical contact with nature” (No. 43). The Encyclical also denounces the dynamics of the digital world that, when they become omnipresent, “prevent us from living wisely, from thinking deeply, from loving generously” (No. 47).

This inequality, as the Pope calls environmental degradation, concerns and “affects not only individuals, but entire countries, and obliges us to think about an ethics of international relations” (n. 51), which would allow for the settlement of that ecological debt between the North and the South of the world due to various factors specifically recalled by the Encyclical (nn. 51 – 52).

In the last part of the first chapter, the weakness of reactions to the dramas of so many people and populations is denounced. “Although there is no lack of positive examples,” the Pope says, ‘there is a certain numbness and carefree irresponsibility’ (no. 54). There is a lack of an adequate culture and willingness to change lifestyles, production and consumption: in fact, technology, finance, the force of economic powers predominates over politics and, too often, the iron mercantile logic, in the search for ever new demands, disregards the needs of the environment.

Chapter Two: The Gospel of Creation

In the second chapter, titled The Gospel of Creation (nn 62 – 100), Pope Francis rereads the biblical accounts and gives a comprehensive view of the Judeo-Christian tradition, explaining why there is a “tremendous responsibility” of human beings toward creation. It starts with such a statement:

God is the cause of creation and underlying his work is a focus of love (No. 65). “The biblical accounts suggest that human existence is based on three closely connected fundamental relationships: the relationship with God, the relationship with one’s neighbor, and the relationship with the earth” (n. 66), which human beings are responsible for nurturing and cherishing (cf. Gen. 2:15), knowing that ‘the ultimate goal of other creatures is not us’ (n. 67), but instead ‘all advance, together with us and through us, toward the common goal, which is God’ (n. 83). He then quotes a beautiful phrase from John Paul II: “God has written a wonderful book whose letters are the multitude of creatures present in the universe” (no. 85).

The concept of God the Creator also leads to the conviction that, being created by the same Father, all of us beings in the universe form a kind of universal family (no. 89), and it is precisely from this conviction that the universal destination of the earth’s goods derives, as the Church’s social doctrine has always taught: “The principle of the subordination of private property to the universal destination of goods and, therefore, the universal right to their use, is a golden rule of social behavior” (no. 93). Whoever owns a share of goods,” the Pope says, ”is only to administer it for the benefit of all, and when this is not done, the very survival of others is put at risk (No. 94).

Chapter Three: The Human Root of the Ecological Crisis

In the third chapter, The Human Root of the Ecological Crisis (nn 101-136), the Pope points to the root causes of the environmental degradation we are witnessing today. First and foremost is technology, of which, however, he also recognizes the positive aspect insofar as it has helped eliminate countless evils that afflict and plagued humanity (nn. 102). However, it also highlights the dangers arising from it, recalling how technical skills give “tremendous power to those who hold knowledge and economic power,” who often, allowing themselves to be guided by the logic of domination, exploit people and the weaker populations themselves (n. 104). Such a vision or “technocratic paradigm,” as the Pope calls it, tends to exert its dominance even over economics and politics, thus preventing true human growth of people and peoples (п. 109).

In addition to the “technocratic paradigm” that causes these imbalances, the Pope also denounces the practical relativism that places self at the center of everything, giving absolute priority to one’s own contingent interests, becoming everything else relative (no. 122).

“From such a culture, derives the logic that leads to the exploitation of children, the abandonment of the elderly, the enslavement of others, the overestimation of the market’s ability to regulate itself, the practice of human trafficking, the trade in the skins of endangered animals and blood diamonds.” Ultimately, this is the same logic of many mafias, organ traffickers, drug trafficking and the discarding of the unborn because they do not match the parents’ plans. “This is also the logic,” the Pope reminds us, ‘of disposability that generates the so-called culture of discarding everywhere’ (No. 123).

The pope also mentions the dignity of work and the centrality of the person, recalling the social magisterium of Gaudium et spes and Laborem exercens (n. 124 and SS), and explains that “giving up investing in people in order to obtain greater immediate profit is a bad deal for society” (n. 128).

He then takes up the debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs), plant or animal, which he recognizes as “an issue of a complex nature” (n. 135). While admitting that in some regions their use has produced economic growth that has helped to solve some problems, nevertheless there are some aspects in their use that should not be minimized, such as the “concentration of productive land in the hands of a few and, as a consequence, the disappearance of small producers and rural workers” (n. 134).

Chapter Four: An Integral Ecology

The fourth chapter is entitled: An Integral Ecology (nn 137 – 162). The Pope broadens the vision to include justice and politics. He speaks of an ecology of institutions, knowing full well that “today the analysis of environmental problems is inseparable from the analysis of human, family, work and urban contexts, and from the relationship of each person with himself” (nn.141). Everything, in fact, is closely related, and so too the state of health of a society’s institutions entails consequences for the environment and for the quality of human life. Citing the Encyclical Caritas in veritate, he recalls that “every injury to solidarity and civic friendship causes environmental damage” (no. 142). Thus, there are not two separate crises: one environmental and another social, but a single and complex socio-environmental crisis.

Pope Francis addresses the issue of the ecology of daily life, examining and stigmatizing a certain urban planning where profit is taken care of to the detriment of vital spaces that offer dignity to human living (No. 150), and also denounces the seriousness of the “lack of housing in rural areas as well as in large cities,” recalling that “home ownership is of great importance for the dignity of persons and for the development of families” (No. 152).

Then follows an important reminder: “The necessary relation of the life of the human being to the moral law inscribed in his or her own nature,” a moral law that founds the so-called “human ecology” and that demands considering one’s body as a gift from God, learning to care for it and to respect its meanings (no. 155). This is demanded by human ecology in order to create an environment that protects human dignity. Without this necessary relationship the common good itself is at risk (no. 156).

The Pope then reminds us that this integral ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common good: “There is so much inequality,” the Pope reminds us, “and more and more people are being discarded, deprived of basic human rights, so committing oneself to the common good means making choices in solidarity on the basis of a preferential option for the poorest” (No. 158).

The fourth chapter ends by recalling the theme of justice between generations “What kind of world,” the Pope asks, “do we wish to pass on to those who will come after us, to the children who are growing up? Speaking of the environment, the Pope means not only the external natural one, but also the inner one, that is, the basic values of human existence: these too must be transmitted to the generations to come, and it is precisely these values that will also safeguard the environment (No. 160).

Chapter Five: Some lines of guidance and action

The fifth chapter is entitled: Some lines of orientation and action (nn 163 – 201). The pope offers some directions for finding a way out of the crisis produced by the culture of waste, pollution and haphazard manipulation of the environment and disregard for the climate (nn. 163). First, he points to the need for dialogue and transparency in decision-making processes as a remedy and calls for a serious commitment on the part of international politics to the environment and, above all, a right relationship between politics and economics to protect and promote “human wholeness, so that the person comes before profit and economic interest” (no. 195).

Regarding international politics and its commitment to the environment, the Pope bitterly observes that unfortunately “the world summits on the environment in recent years have not lived up to expectations because, due to a lack of political decision-making, they have not reached truly meaningful and effective global environmental agreements” (No. 166). Lacking this contribution, private initiative can make a difference, and he recalls that cooperatives are already being developed in some places to harness renewable energy to enable local self-sufficiency and even the sale of excess production (no. 179).

Clearly, the Church does not claim to define scientific issues, nor to replace politics, but only to contribute to an honest and transparent debate so that particular needs or ideologies do not harm the common good (No. 188). The Encyclical therefore calls for stronger International Organizations, and for agreement on governance regimes for the whole range of so-called global commons, and first and foremost the environment, which is one of those goods that market mechanisms cannot adequately defend or promote (No. 175).

At the end of this chapter, Pope Francis asks all religions to “enter into a dialogue with each other oriented toward caring for nature, defending the poor, and building a network of respect and fraternity.” A similar “open and respectful” dialogue is also hoped for among political institutions and among the various ecological movements, among which unfortunately there is no shortage of differences and sometimes even ideological struggles: “The seriousness of the ecological crisis demands of all of us to think of the common good and to move forward on the path of dialogue, which requires patience, asceticism and generosity, always remembering that reality is superior to the idea” (No. 201).

Chapter Six: Education and ecological spirituality

Chapter Six is entitled: Education and Ecological Spirituality (nn. 202 – 246). With clarity, Pope Francis calls for a change of course and “focus on another way of life,” which also opens up the possibility of “exerting healthy pressure on those who hold political, economic and social power.” This happens, in particular, “when consumer choices succeed in changing the behavior of businesses, forcing them to consider environmental impact and production patterns” (No. 206).

This new way of life calls for ecological education, which is called to create and facilitate an alliance between humanity and the environment, causing an “ecological citizenship” to arise that will produce relative and lasting effects. It is necessary, however, that the majority of society’s members be educated to accept not only the juridical norm that intends to safeguard the environment, but also and above all the proper motivations that inspire it: “Only by starting from cultivating solid virtues is self-giving possible in an ecological commitment” (n. 211).

All educational spheres are involved in this work, primarily “the school, the family, the media, catechesis and others.” The importance of all those paths of environmental education capable of affecting daily gestures and habits cannot be underestimated, from reducing water consumption, to sorting garbage, to turning off unnecessary lights. All this must be valued and promoted (No. 213).

“Christian spirituality,” the Pope recalls, ‘proposes an alternative way of understanding the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, capable of rejoicing deeply without being obsessed with consumption’ (no. 222).

Faced with the created world, it is required to acquire that attitude of heart, the one taught and practiced by Jesus, who invited us to look at nature with the very eyes of our heavenly Father (no. 226). Pope Francis invites us to do something simple, but of great significance: “Resume the precious habit of stopping to thank God, before and after meals, for all the gifts he gives us” (no. 227), as well as to “know how to embrace the whole world at the moment of liturgical worship, where water, oil, fire, and colors are taken up with all their symbolic force and are incorporated into praise” (no. 235), and to “rediscover the great gift of Sunday with participation in the Eucharist as a sign of the first day of the new creation, the firstfruits of which is the risen humanity of the Lord, a guarantee of the final transfiguration of all creation” (no. 237).

Before the final two prayers, Pope Francis dedicates a final thought to the Virgin Mary, “Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head” (Rev. 12:1), that she might help us to look at this world with wiser eyes, and inviting all to invoke her so that, as she did for Jesus, “today and always she may care with maternal affection and sorrow for this wounded world” (No. 241).

Source

• “L’anima del Mondo. Dialoghi sull’insegnamento sociale della Chiesa” of Mauro Viani

Images

• Image digitally created by spazio+spadoni