PRAISED BE

“Laudato Si’
On Care for Our Common Home”

Pope Francis I’s Encyclical on the Environment:

A Call for Humility, Dialogue and Conversion

Powerpoint by Roger Bergman, Ph.D.

Adapted by Jennifer Reed-Bouley, Ph.D.
 Francis the First!

 First pope from the Global South (Argentina)

 First Jesuit pope (follower of St. Ignatius of Loyola)
 First pope to take the name Francis, after the saint of
Assisi, named patron of ecologists by Pope John Paul II
 First pope to write an encyclical on the environment
 First pope to write an encyclical using gender-inclusive
language
 First pope to write an encyclical citing national bishops’
conferences, from around the world
 First pope to appoint nine cardinals as papal advisors
 More about Francis: “Who am I to judge?”
 He once worked as a bouncer in a Buenos Aires bar.
 He flies economy class and carries his own bag.
 When elected pope in March 2013, he chose to appear on the balcony, as
the newly elected pope, without the traditional red cape and Prada
(expensive, showy) shoes. He bowed before the people and asked them
to pray for him.
 He is the first Pope not to live not in papal quarters, but in an apartment
alongside Vatican guests and employees.
 Drives himself around Rome in a 1984 Renault; as Archbishop, he rode
the bus.
 As Archbishop, he criticized priests who refused to baptize children of
unmarried mothers.
 During pre-Easter services, he has washed and kissed the feet of
prisoners, including Muslims and women – to the dismay of Vatican
traditionalists.
 He beatified Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador as a martyr of the
faith.
 He Tweets daily and has 6.6 million followers.
Sources Cited in “Laudato Si”
 37,000 WORDS (A SMALL BOOK)
 246 PARAGRAPHS
 172 ENDNOTES
 MOST CITED DOCUMENTS
 BIBLE (67)
 JOHN PAUL II (37)
 BENEDICT XVI (30)
 18 NATIONAL BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES (22)
 POPE FRANCIS (13)
 CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (10)
 ROMANO GUARDINI (8)
 SAINT FRANCIS (6)
 ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (6)
 PAUL VI (6)
 COMPENDIUM OF THE SOCIAL DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH (6)
 PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW (5)
 RIO DECLARATION (3) AND EARTH CHARTER (1)
 Table of Contents:
The Pope’s Strategy

Introduction
1. What Is Happening to Our Common Home
2. The Gospel of Creation
3. The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
4. Integral Ecology
5. Lines of Approach and Action
6. Ecological Education and Spirituality
 Ten Themes of the Encyclical
1. the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the
planet
2. the conviction that everything in the world is connected
3. the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from
technology
4. the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and
progress
5. the value proper to each creature
6. the human meaning of ecology
7. the need for forthright and honest debate
8. the serious responsibility of international and local policy
9. the throwaway culture
10.the proposal of a new lifestyle
 Introduction to the Letter

1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be

to you, my Lord”. In the words of this
beautiful canticle, 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. “Praise be to you, my Lord,
through our Sister, Mother Earth, who
sustains and governs us, and who
produces various fruit with colored
flowers and herbs”.
 Introduction
2. “This sister 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. The violence present in our hearts,
wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of
sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all
forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and
laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated
of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have
forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen
2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we
breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from
her waters.”
To whom is this letter addressed?
“Now, faced as we are with global
environmental deterioration, I wish to
address every person living on this
planet. In this Encyclical, I would like
to enter into dialogue with all people
about our common home.” 3

Significant that addressed to ALL!

 CHAPTER 1
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COMMON HOME

I. POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE

II. THE ISSUE OF WATER
III. LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
IV. DECLINE IN THE QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE AND
BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY
V. GLOBAL INEQUALITY
VI. WEAK RESPONSES
VII. A VARIETY OF OPINIONS
 An Unusual Pastoral Tactic

Our goal is not to amass information

or to satisfy curiosity, but rather to
become painfully aware, to dare to
turn what is happening to the world
into our own personal suffering and
thus to discover what each of us can
do about it. 19
The Climate as a Common Good
 The Pope quotes the Vatican II definition of the common
good later in the document: The common good is “the
sum of those conditions of social life which allow
social groups and their individual members relatively
thorough and ready access to their own fulfilment”.
156 He refers to it here in an innovative way:
 “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and
meant for all.…A very solid scientific consensus
indicates that we are presently witnessing a
disturbing warming of the climatic system….due to the
great concentration of greenhouse gases…released mainly
as a result of human activity.…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.” 23
 Global Inequality

 “…the deterioration of the environment and of

society affects the most vulnerable people on the
planet….48….the majority of the planet’s
population, billions of people.” 49

 “…a true ecological approach always becomes a

social approach; it must integrate questions of
justice in debates on the environment, so as to
hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the
poor.” 49
 A Variety of Opinions

“On many concrete questions,

the Church has no reason to
offer a definitive opinion; she
knows that honest debate
must be encouraged among
experts, while respecting
divergent views.” 61
 CHAPTER 2
THE GOSPEL OF CREATION

I. THE LIGHT OFFERED BY FAITH

II. THE WISDOM OF THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS
III. THE MYSTERY OF THE UNIVERSE
IV. THE MESSAGE OF THE EACH CREATURE IN THE
HARMONY OF CREATION
V. A UNIVERSAL COMMUNION
VI. THE COMMON DESTINATION OF GOODS
VII. THE GAZE OF JESUS
The creation accounts in the book of
Genesis…

“…suggest that human life is grounded in three

fundamental and closely intertwined relationships:
with God, with our neighbor and with the earth
itself…The harmony between the Creator, humanity
and creation as a whole was disrupted by our
presuming to take the place of God and refusing to
acknowledge our creaturely limitations. This in turn
distorted our mandate to “have dominion” over the
earth (cf. Gen 1:28), to “till it and keep it” (Gen
2:15)…Saint Bonaventure held that, through
universal reconciliation with every creature, Saint
Francis in some way returned to the state of original
innocence.” 66
THE COMMON DESTINATION OF GOODS

“God created the world for everyone. Hence

every ecological approach needs to
incorporate a social perspective which takes
into account the fundamental rights of the
poor and the underprivileged….The Christian
tradition has never recognized the right to
private property as absolute or inviolable,
and has stressed the social purpose of all
forms of private property.” 93
 CHAPTER 3
THE HUMAN ROOTS OF THE ECOLOGICAL
CRISIS

I. TECHNOLOGY: CREATIVITY AND POWER

II. THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE TECHNOCRATIC

PARADIGM

III. THE CRISIS AND EFFECTS OF MODERN

ANTHROPOCENTRISM
A. PRACTICAL RELATIVISM
B. THE NEED TO PROTECT
EMPLOYMENT
C. NEW BIOLOGICAL
TECHNIQUES
 A Crossroads for Humanity

“Humanity has entered a new era in which

our technical prowess has brought us to a
crossroads….Technology has remedied
countless evils which used to harm and limit
human beings….102…but we cannot claim to
have a sound ethics, a culture and
spirituality genuinely capable of setting
limits and teaching clear-minded self-
restraint.” 105
 THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE
TECHNOCRATIC PARADIGM

“The basic problem goes even deeper: it is

the way that humanity has taken up
technology and its development according to
an undifferentiated and one-dimensional
paradigm….based on the lie that there is an
infinite supply of the earth’s goods, and this
leads to the planet being squeezed dry
beyond every limit.” 106
 “A Bold Cultural Revolution”

“Nobody is suggesting a return to the Stone

Age, but we do need to slow down and look
at reality in a different way, to appropriate
the positive and sustainable progress which
has been made, but also to recover the
values and the great goals swept away by
our unrestrained delusions of grandeur.” 114
 CHAPTER 4
INTEGRAL ECOLOGY

I. ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ECOLOGY

II. CULTURAL ECOLOGY
III. ECOLOGY OF DAILY LIFE
IV. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE COMMON GOOD
V. JUSTICE BETWEEN GENERATIONS
 It cannot be emphasized enough
how everything is interconnected. 138

 “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.
Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach
to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded,
and at the same time protecting nature.” 139
 “Thus, for example, drug use in affluent societies creates
a continual and growing demand for products imported
from poorer regions, where behavior is corrupted, lives
are destroyed, and the environment continues to
deteriorate.” 142
 The common good

“the sum of those conditions of

social life which allow social
groups and their individual
members relatively thorough and
ready access to their own
fulfilment” 156
JUSTICE BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS

 “The notion of the common good also

extends to future generations….We can no
longer speak of sustainable development
apart from intergenerational solidarity.” 159
 “Doomsday predictions can no longer be
met with irony or disdain. We may well be
leaving to coming generations debris,
desolation and filth.” 161
 CHAPTER 5
LINES OF APPROACH AND ACTION

I. DIALOGUE ON THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
II. DIALOGUE FOR NEW NATIONAL AND LOCAL POLICIES
III. DIALOGUE AND TRANSPARENCY IN DECISION-MAKING
IV. POLITICS AND ECONOMY IN DIALOGUE FOR HUMAN
FULFILLMENT
V. RELIGIONS IN DIALOGUE WITH SCIENCE
 International Dialogue

 “[Global] Interdependence obliges us to think of

one world with a common plan….A global
consensus is essential for confronting the deeper
problems, which cannot be resolved by unilateral
actions on the part of individual countries.” 164
 “[But] As the bishops of Bolivia have stated,
‘the countries which have benefited from a high
degree of industrialization, at the cost of enormous
emissions of greenhouse gases, have a greater
responsibility for providing a solution to the
problems they have caused.’” 170
 Citizens’ Movements

“In some places, cooperatives are being

developed to exploit renewable sources of
energy which ensure local self-sufficiency
and even the sale of surplus energy….Unless
citizens control political power – national,
regional and municipal – it will not be
possible to control damage to the
environment.” 179
 “Put simply…

…it is a matter of redefining our

notion of progress.” 194
It might be said that the purpose of
the encyclical is to provoke a global
(and local) dialogue about what a true
and worthy progress would look like.
 CHAPTER 6
ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND SPIRITUALITY

I. TOWARDS A NEW LIFESTYLE

II. EDUCATING FOR THE COVENANT BETWEEN HUMANITY AND
THE ENVIRONMENT
III. ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION
IV. JOY AND PEACE
V. CIVIC AND POLITICAL LOVE
VI. SACRAMENTAL SIGNS AND THE CELEBRATION OF REST
VII. THE TRINITY AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CREATURES
VIII. QUEEN OF ALL CREATION
IX. BEYOND THE SUN
 Yet all is not lost.

 “Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle,

above all when few people are capable of
maintaining it, can only lead to violence
and mutual destruction.” 204
 “Human beings, while capable of the
worst, are also capable of rising above
themselves, choosing again what is good,
and making a new start, despite their
mental and social conditioning.” 205
 ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION

 “There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation

through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how
education can bring about real changes in lifestyle.” 211
 “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork
is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a
secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” 217
 “Nevertheless, self-improvement on the part of
individuals will not by itself remedy the extremely
complex situation facing our world today….The
ecological conversion needed to bring about lasting
change is also a community conversion.” 219
 The Franciscan Spirituality of a Jesuit Pope

 “Christian spirituality proposes an alternative

understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a
prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of
deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption.
We need to take up an ancient lesson…“’less is more’”.
222
 “…there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a
mountain trail, in a dewdrop, in a poor person’s face.
The ideal is not only to pass from the exterior to the
interior to discover the action of God in the soul, but also
to discover God in all things.” 233
 Ten Themes of the Encyclical
1. the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the
planet
2. the conviction that everything in the world is connected
3. the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from
technology
4. the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and
progress
5. the value proper to each creature
6. the human meaning of ecology
7. the need for forthright and honest debate
8. the serious responsibility of international and local policy
9. the throwaway culture
10.the proposal of a new lifestyle
 Q&A
 What needs clarification?
 What surprises you?
 What encourages you?
 What disappoints you?
 What do you resist?
 What changes will you make in response?
 In your lifestyle, home, church, work, politics, spirituality?
 A prayer for our earth

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this
earth,
so precious in your eyes….
 A prayer for our earth

….Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
NASA ON THE SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS

 Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed

scientific journals show that 97 percent or
more of actively publishing climate scientists
agree: Climate-warming trends over the past
century are very likely due to human
activities. In addition, most of the leading
scientific organizations worldwide have issued
public statements endorsing this position. The
following is a partial list of these organizations,
along with links to their published statements and
a selection of related resources….
 http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/
The Scientific Consensus (NASA website)

 Joint statement from 18 U.S. scientific associations

 American Association for the Advancement of Science
 American Chemical Society
 American Geophysical Union
 American Medical Association
 American Meteorological Society
 American Physical Society
 The Geological Society of America
 Joint statement of 11 international science academies
 U.S. National Academy of Sciences
 U.S. Global Change Research Program
 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
 200 worldwide scientific organizations hold the position that climate
change has been caused by human action.
 http://opr.ca.gov/s_listoforganizations.php
 Pentagon calls climate change a
matter of ‘national security’

 “The Pentagon's new report maps out four areas of

climate change deemed the most threatening to the U.S.
military -- rising global temperatures, changing
precipitation patterns, more extreme weather and
rising sea levels. And it warns about the impact they
could have on food and water supplies, the environment
and American security itself.”
 http://www.foxnews
.com/politics/2014/10/13/pentagon-calls-climate-change
-matter-national-security
Climate Change:
What Does It Mean for Nebraska?
 A composite of the various climate models projects a
warming in Nebraska of about 4°F for the annual average
by 2050 and 8°F or higher by 2090.…There are expected
to be changes in the frequency and severity of extreme
events in a warmer climate, such as heat waves and
heavy precipitation…The number of days per year with
daytime high temperatures greater than 95°F are
expected to increase by about 15 days by the middle of
this century, along with more consecutive days with highs
above this threshold….
 Authored by four climate scientists at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln
 http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g2208/build/#target5
 Pope Francis’ View of
Population Growth
“To blame [climate change on] population growth
instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the
part of some, is one way of refusing to face the
issues. It is an attempt to legitimize the present
model of distribution, where a minority believes that
it has the right to consume in a way which can never
be universalized, since the planet could not even
contain the waste products of such consumption.
Besides, we know that approximately a third of all
food produced is discarded, and “whenever food is
thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of
the poor”. Still, attention needs to be paid to
imbalances in population density…”50