Laudato Si’

Praise be to you, my Lord …

On care for our common home

Franciscus, 24 May 2015
LS Chapters

I. What is happening to our common home?

II. The gospel of creation
III.The human roots of the ecological crisis
IV.Integral ecology
V. Lines of approach and action
VI.Ecological education and spirituality

246 paragraphs, 184 pages (Vatican Press edition)

Methodology LS 15
Methodology LS 15

See
• I will begin by briefly reviewing several aspects of the present
ecological crisis, with the aim of drawing on the results of the
best scientific research available today, letting them touch us
deeply and provide a concrete foundation for the ethical and
spiritual itinerary that follows.
Methodology LS 15

Judge
• I will then consider some principles drawn from the Judaeo-
Christian tradition which can render our commitment to the
environment more coherent. I will then attempt to get to the
roots of the present situation, so as to consider not only its
symptoms but also its deepest causes.
Methodology LS 15

Act
• In light of this reflection, I will advance some broader proposals
for dialogue and action which would involve each of us as
individuals, and also affect international policy.
Methodology LS 15

Celebrate
• Finally, convinced as I am that change is impossible without
motivation and a process of education, I will offer some inspired
guidelines for human development to be found in the treasure of
Christian spiritual experience.
Methodology LS 15

• See … Head
• Judge … Heart
• Act … Hands
• Celebrate
See
Chapter 1: What is happening to our common
home [LS 17-61]
I. Pollution and climate change
 Pollution, waste and the throwaway culture
 Climate as a common good
II. The issue of water
III.Loss of biodiversity
IV.Decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of
society
V. Global inequality
LS 21

• “Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are

generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and
radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction
and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial
sources.”

• “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more

like an immense pile of filth.”
LS 21

• “In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once
beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.”

• “Industrial waste and chemical products utilized in cities

and agricultural areas can lead to bioaccumulation in the
organisms of the local population, even when levels of
toxins in those places are low.”
Waste: Throwaway culture
Waste: Throwaway culture
Air pollution
Air pollution & traffic
Water pollution
LS 41

• “Who turned the wonder world of the seas

into underwater cemeteries bereft of colour
and life?” 25

25 CatholicBishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Pastoral Letter

What is Happening to our Beautiful Land? (29 January 1988).
Destruction of our seas
Rainforest destruction
Deforestation
Mining
Earth Overshoot Day Global Footprint Network

• Earth Overshoot Day, is the calculated illustrative calendar date

on which humanity’s resource consumption for the year
exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that
year.

• Earth Overshoot Day = (World Biocapacity/World Ecological

Footprint) x 365
Earth Overshoot Day Global Footprint Network
Earth Overshoot Day Global Footprint Network

Date of EDD on the release year

Year Overshoot Date
1987 December 19
1990 December 7
1995 November 21
2000 November 1
2005 October 20
2007 October 26
2008 September 23
2009 September 25
2010 August 21
2011 August 27
2012 August 22
2013 August 20
2014 August 19
2015 August 13
Earth Overshoot Day Global Footprint Network
Planetary boundaries: To keep the earth hospitable, we need to
live within 9 specific limits [Stockholm Resilience Center]
 Current status of the control variables for seven of the planetary boundaries. The green zone is the safe
operating space, the yellow represents the zone of uncertainty (increasing risk), and the red is a high-risk
zone.

Will Steffen et al. Science 2015;347:1259855

Published by AAAS
Planetary boundaries: Here is how we are doing in 2015; we
have crossed 4 boundaries already [Stockholm Resilience Center]
Climate change
• “Climate change is a global problem with grave
implications: environmental, social, economic, political and
for the distribution of goods.” (LS 25)

• “It represents one of the principal challenges facing

humanity in our day.” (LS 25)

• “The problem is aggravated by a model of development

based on the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the
heart of the worldwide energy system.”
Historic Temperature Data
Greenhouse effect
Climate change
Atmospheric CO2
Concentration and
Temperature Change

Carbon dioxide (ppmv)

Temperature change (oC)

150 100 50 0
Thousands of Years ago
 THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Visible Shortwaves
Terrestrial Longwaves

H2O

CO2
CH4
N2O
HFCs
PFCs
SF6
 Climate Change
• Climate change is caused by both natural events
(like volcanic eruptions) and human activities
Human Sources of GHGs
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) – Most prevalent GHG
Methane (CH4) – Second most common, 21x the potency of CO2
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) – 310x the potency of CO2
Other Gases – HFCs, PFCs, and SF6 = range 600 – 23900x potency of CO2

Transportation
Transport
Land Use:
Energy Generation
Agriculture & Forestry
Industrial Processes
 Climate Change and Environmental
Impacts
Changes in temperature, weather patterns and sea level rise
Coastal Areas: Human Health:
Agriculture: Weather related
Erosion and flooding
Changes in crop yields mortality
Inundation
Irrigation demands, Infectious disease
Change in wetlands
Productivity Air quality - respiratory
illness

Water Resources: Forests: Industry and

Changes in water supply Change in Ecologies, Energy:
and water quality Geographic range of species, Changes in Energy
Competition/Trans-border and demand
Issues Health and productivity Product demand &
Supply
Extreme weather events:
impact of climate change
Extreme weather events

• As the climate has warmed, some types of extreme weather have

become more frequent and severe in recent decades, with
increases in extreme heat, intense precipitation, and drought.

• Heat waves are longer and hotter. Heavy rains and flooding are
more frequent. In a wide swing between extremes, drought, too,
is more intense and more widespread.

https://www.climatecommunication.org/new/features/extreme-weather/
Weather on steroids
Tropical Storm Washi

• Philippine Name: Typhoon Sendong

• World’s deadliest typhoon in 2011

• Cities most affected: Cagayan de Oro, Iligan

• 15 days of rain fell in 24 hours

Tropical Storm Sendong

• Nearly 40,000 houses damaged, of which 11,400 houses were

destroyed

• Nearly 700,000 people affected

• 1,200 deaths

• Direct damage estimated USD 48M

• Socio-economic loss USD 98M

Sendong
Sendong
Judge
LS Key Themes (LS 16)

• “Conviction that everything in the world is connected”

• “Intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of

the planet”

• “Value proper to each creature”

Connected

• “the conviction that everything in the world is

connected” (LS 16)

• “Because all creatures are connected, each must be

cherished with love and respect, for all of us as living
creatures are dependent on one another” (LS 42)
Connected

Three relationships

• With God
• With Others
• With Creation
As a Jesuit University, Xavier participates in the Jesuit mission
of reconciliation with God, with others and with creation; it
seeks to serve the faith, promote justice, dialogue with culture
and religions, and protect the environment; it upholds the
Ignatian values of magis, cura personalis and finding-God-in-
all-things.
Reconciliation Serving the Magis
with God Faith

Reconciliation • Promoting Cura Personalis

Justice
with Others
• Dialogue with
• Culture
• Religions

Reconciliation Protecting the Finding-God-In-

with Creation Environment All Things
Connected
Cries of the earth and the poor

• “the intimate relationship between the poor and the

fragility of the planet” (LS 16)

• “to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the
poor” (LS 49)
Cries of the earth and the poor

• “We are faced not with two separate crises, one

environmental and the other social, but rather with
one complex crisis which is both social and
environmental.” (LS 139)
Cries of the earth and the poor

• Most of the poor live in the ecologically fragile areas … the

peripheries

• The poor are the main victims of environmental destruction

• The poor have harder time coping and adapting to

environmental disasters
 “Many of the poor live in areas particularly
affected by phenomena related to warming” (LS 25)
Climate change & justice

They have limited resources to adapt

Value: LS 2

• “This sister [earth] now cries out to us because of the harm

we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse
of the goods with which God has endowed her.”

• “We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters,

entitled to plunder her at will.”
Value: Gen 1, 28

• 28God blessed them and said to them, “Be

fruitful and increase in number; fill the
earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky and over every living
creature that moves on the ground.”
Value: LS 67

• “the Genesis account which grants man “dominion” over

the earth (cf. Gen 1:28), has encouraged the unbridled
exploitation of nature by painting him as domineering and
destructive by nature. This is not a correct interpretation of
the Bible as understood by the Church.”

• “nowadays we must forcefully reject the notion that our

being created in God’s image and given dominion over the
earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”
Value: Gen 2, 15

• The LORD God took the man and put him

15

in the Garden of Eden to work it and take

care of it.
Value: LS 67

• “The biblical texts are to be read in their context, with an

appropriate hermeneutic, recognizing that they tell us to
“till and keep” the garden of the world (cf. Gen 2:15).”

• “‘Tilling’ refers to cultivating, ploughing or working, while

‘keeping’ means caring, protecting, overseeing and
preserving.”
Value: LS 67

• “This implies a relationship of mutual responsibility

between human beings and nature.”

• “Each community can take from the bounty of the earth

whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to
protect the earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming
generations.”

 [We take care of creation so creation can take care of us]

Value: Two attitudes towards nature
Category Dualistic Integral
Ecology
View of Material Material world as Inherent
World evil goodness of all
creation
Human mandate Mastery: Stewardship:
regarding nature exploitative cultivating, tilling
dominant and keeping
Perspective Anthropocentric Theocentric

Human role Owner Tenant / Steward

Creation as … Possession Gift

Act
Key themes (LS 16)

• “Call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and

progress”

• “Ecological citizenship”

• “The proposal of a new lifestyle”

Act: 2 spheres

• Structural change

• Personal conversion
Structural change (LS 194)

• “Put simply, it is a matter of redefining our notion of

progress.
 A technological and economic development which does not leave in its
wake a better world and an integrally higher quality of life cannot be
considered progress.
 Frequently, in fact, people’s quality of life actually diminishes – by the
deterioration of the environment, the low quality of food or the
depletion of resources – in the midst of economic growth.”
Structural change (LS 5-6)

• St John Paul II: Every effort to protect and improve our world
entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production
and consumption, and the established structures of power
which today govern societies”.

• Benedict XVI likewise proposed “eliminating the structural

causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correcting
models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring
respect for the environment”.
Structural Change (LS 164)

• A global consensus that would lead “to planning a

sustainable and diversified agriculture, developing
renewable and less polluting forms of energy, encouraging a
more efficient use of energy, promoting a better
management of marine and forest resources, and ensuring
universal access to drinking water.”
Act (LS 26)

• “the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting

gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting
for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy”

• “means of production and transportation which consume

less energy and require fewer raw materials, as well as in
methods of construction and renovating buildings which
improve their energy efficiency”
Combatting climate change
Act

• “Adapt to climate change or to face natural disasters” (LS 25)

• Disaster Risk Reduction & Management

RELIEF
Sorting &
repacking of
goods
RELIEF
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Transport and
Distribution of
goods to
survivors
 HEALTH
Barangay Gibitngil = 102
Total number of patients served = 216
Below 18 yrs old = 47
18 and yrs above = 36

Municipal Health Center = 114 

Below 18 yrs old = 57
18 yrs and above = 57
WASH
HIGHLIGHTS:
• Installed
improved
“Arborloo”
Toilet
• Distributed 7
UDD Bowls for
installations
PSYCHOSOCIAL
HIGHLIGHTS:
• The unique need of the
teachers and students led
to reinvention of
structure:

– Debriefing + capacity
building+ plan of action
• Goal: cascade
– Debriefing of children, c/o
student volunteers
Exploring solutions: Cities

• Eighty percent of the world

population is expected to live in
cities by 2050. Consequently, city
planning and urban
development strategies are
instrumental to balancing the
supply of natural capital and
population’s demand. Examples
include energy-efficient buildings
and adequate public
transportation.
Exploring solutions: Energy

• A large part of the Ecological

Footprint is driven by fossil
fuel use. Cities, states and
nations can set policies to
promote renewable energy
adoption in a number of
ways, including tax rebates,
cap-and-trade-systems,
subsidies, and even carpool
lane privileges.
Exploring solutions: Food

• How we meet one of our

most basic need–food–is a
powerful way to influence
sustainability. Sourcing food
locally and avoiding highly
processed foods can lower the
Ecological Footprint.
Emphasizing plant-based diets
and reducing animal protein
can also have a major impact.
Ecological citizenship

• “There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little

daily actions” (LS 211)

• “such as avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water

consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can
reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings,
using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off
unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices.” (LS 211)
Ecological citizenship

• “All of these reflect a generous and worthy creativity which

brings out the best in human beings.” (LS 211)
“Small things can stop something big like climate
change” -- WWF
• Conserve energy.
• Switch to compact
fluorescent lamps.
• Use fans more,
airconditioners less.
• Take public transport.
• Car pool.
• Keep your vehicles in tip-
top shape.
• Support “green” electricity.
• Don’t leave water running.
• Support log bans.
• Plant trees.
• Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
• Don’t burn your waste.
Segregate.
• Save paper.
• Clean-as-you-go
Act: 2 spheres

• Structural change
 Investments
• Positive List: eg renewable energy
• Negative List: eg mining companies, logging companies
 Green practices of our houses and works
• Reduce, reuse, recycle … MRF
• Energy efficiency
• Green electricity … solar panels
• Rainfall harvesting
• Water conservation
Act: 2 spheres

• Personal conversion
 Simple Lifestyle
 Healthy eating & living … exercise
 Not attached (addicted?) to gadgets
 Healthy community life
 Gardening & composting
 Taking public transport
 Regular contact with the poor and with poor communities
How will our lifestyle change …

• As an individual?

• As families & homes?

• As a neighborhood?

• As XU community?

• As a City and society?

Celebrate
Patron saint of the environment

(St Francis of Assisi) “shows us just how

inseparable the bond is between concern for
nature, justice for the poor, commitment to
society, and interior peace.” (LS 10)
Integral ecology

• “Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home

is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful
mother who opens her arms to embrace us.” (LS 1)

• “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother

Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces
various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs” (Canticle of the
Creatures quoted in LS 1)
Celebrating the goodness of God’s creation
“Laudato si’, mi’ Signore”
Praised be to you, my Lord for …
• Our brother the sun
• Our sister the moon
• Our brother the wind
• Our sister water
• Our brother fire
• Our mother the earth
 Canticle of the Sun
St. Francis of Assisi
Celebrating the goodness of God’s creation

• Creation as blessing
• God dwells in creation
• God works and labors in creation
• Blessings descend from above
 As rays of light descend from the sun, as the waters flow from
fountains
 Contemplatio ad amorem
St. Ignatius of Loyola
Celebrating the goodness of God’s creation

• Gratuity … All is gift … All is grace

• Finding-God-in-all things

• En todo amar y servir

 In all things to love and to serve the Lord
Recap
See …
I. What is happening to our common home?
Judge …
II. The gospel of creation
III. The human roots of the ecological crisis
IV. Integral ecology
Act …
V. Lines of approach and action
Celebrate …
VI. Ecological education and spirituality
 Laudato Si’
Praise be to you, my Lord …

On care for our common home

Franciscus, 24 May 2015
A Christian prayer in union with creation

Father, we praise you with all your creatures.

They came forth from your all-powerful
hand;
they are yours, filled with your presence and
your tender love.
Praise be to you!
A Christian prayer in union with creation

Son of God, Jesus,

through you all things were made.
You were formed in the womb of Mary our Mother,
you became part of this earth,
and you gazed upon this world with human eyes.
Today you are alive in every creature
in your risen glory.
Praise be to you!
A Christian prayer in union with creation

Holy Spirit, by your light

you guide this world towards the Father’s love
and accompany creation as it groans in travail.
You also dwell in our hearts
and you inspire us to do what is good.
Praise be to you!
A Christian prayer in union with creation
Triune Lord,
wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.
A Christian prayer in union with creation

God of love, show us our place in this world

as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth,
for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
The poor and the earth are crying out.
A Christian prayer in union with creation

O Lord, seize us with your power and light,

help us to protect all life,
to prepare for a better future,
for the coming of your Kingdom
of justice, peace, love and beauty.
Praise be to you!
Amen.
 Laudato Si’
Praise be to you, my Lord …

On care for our common home

Franciscus, 24 May 2015