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An Introduction : Who is Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergolgio)?
What is an Encyclical?
An Encyclical is a letter written by the Pope to an audience of
bishops with the intention of guiding them in their ministry.
Every encyclical is made publicly available for the spiritual
benefit of all the people of God and to all people of good will,
namely non-Catholics who may also want to read the document.
The word "encyclical" comes from the Greek, meaning "general"
or "encircling".
Papal encyclicals provide analysis, in the light of the Gospel
and of the Tradition of the Church, on relevant issues for the
faithful.
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What’s all the fuss about???
5
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/jeb-bush-climate-change-
pope_56047a10e4b08820d91c57bc?section=australia&adsSiteOverride=au
Former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush
Republican
Presidential hopeful
Climate Change Denier
“Pope Francis is not a scientist he's a religious leader”
Bush said he respects the pope's opinion and that
“the pope is not wrong," but he believes Francis
should stay out of political issues.
6
He named and shamed funders of
climate denialism like the Heartland
Institute for their attacks on the pope,
“An overwhelming majority of
Americans agree with Francis’s call
for climate action”.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/heartland-institute-attacks-pope-francis-climate-change
Jeffrey David Sachs, American economist and
director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University
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Naomi Klein author of the best-seller
“This Changes Everything”
“I must say that as a feminist, a Jew and a laywoman, I
was surprised to be invited to the Vatican, the encyclical
came as a surprise in terms of its courage and boldness at
a moment when politicians are not showing much
courage, the text contains a powerful truth. I was shocked
by this and also by its poeticism and lyricism. This
encyclical speaks to people’s hearts. It is not only a
teaching for the Catholic world but for every person living
on this planet. To change everything we need everyone”.
8
In our own age we are faced with a crisis of
civilization, the gradual but apparently inexorable
human-caused destruction of the condition of the
Earth in which human life has flourished over the
past several thousand years, at whose centre is the
phenomenon we call either global warming or
climate change.
During the past decade I have read scores of books
and thousands of articles, many outstanding,
examining from every conceivable angle and also
trying to explain the wreckage we are knowingly
inflicting on the Earth. It was however not until last
week that I read a work whose tone and scope
seemed to me, fully adequate to its theme. That
work was Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’: On
Care for Our Common Home – in my opinion one
of the most important documents of our era.
Laudato Si’:
A political reading, the
papal encyclical is the
first work that has risen
to the full challenge of
climate change.
Robert Manne 1 July 2015
The Monthly: Australian politics,
society and culture
https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/robert-
manne/2015/01/2015/1435708320/laudato-si-political-
reading
Importance of the Encyclical
On 18 June 2015, the ecological problem entered in the
heart of the Catholic Church's teaching. It was officially
launch with a press conference at the Vatican.
“It is not an encyclical on climate change, it is an
encyclical on integral ecology-concern for human and
natural ecology.” Cardinal Peter Turkson
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For the benefit of non Ecologists - Miriam Webster Dictionary’s
Ecol-o-gy: noun [from German ökologie, (Greek οἶκος oikos, ‘house’,
household' and λόγος logos, teaching ; ie, theory of ‘household’]
(1) study of habitat : a branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of
organisms and their environment
(2) the totality or pattern of relations between organisms and their environment.
Econ-o-my: noun [from Greek oikonomos, (Greek οἰκονόμος, from
oiko- 'house' and -nomos 'rule, law') was an Ancient Greek word
meaning 'manager' or 'housekeeper’.]
(1) archaic: the management of household affairs, especially expenses
(2) thrifty and efficient use of resources; frugality in expenditures
(3) the structure of economic life in an area or a period; an economic system.
Ecology possess “relationships” whereas economy speaks of “use”.
Why do they point to perspectives that rarely seem to connect?
Is it the first time that the Church
speaks of ecology?
Pope Francis cites his predecessors,
the Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, the various
bishops' conferences around the
world.
Benedict XVI had already blended human
ecology and the environment (in "Caritas
in Veritate") and introduced alongside that
intergenerational solidarity between
generations.
Another fundamental concept, borrowed
from John Paul II, is that of "ecological
conversion" that individuals, communities,
nations and international organizations are
called to.
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The Encyclical has six chapters
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
The 9 Main Themes of Laudato Si
· the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the
planet,
· the value proper to each creature,
· the human meaning of ecology,
· the conviction that everything in the world is connected,
· the throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle.
· the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from
technology,
· the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and
progress,
· the need for forthright and honest debate,
· the serious responsibility of international and local policy,
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15
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
coloured flowers and herbs”.[1]
Introductory paragraph
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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.
Taking the words of the “beloved” Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox
Churches, Bartholomew, the Pope reminds us: “For human beings… to destroy
the biological diversity … by causing changes in its climate …; to contaminate
the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins”. Her cry, united
with that of the poor, stirs our conscience to “acknowledge our sins against
creation” (8).
Pope Francis quotes a Sufi Muslim mystic, Ali al-Khawas, in footnote no. 159,
which beautifully reads: “Prejudice should not have us criticize those who seek
ecstasy in music or poetry. There is a subtle mystery in each of the movements
and sounds of this world.
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Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I was awarded an honorary doctoral degree on 26 Oct 2015 from the Sophia University
Institute for “his service to the unity of the human family”. He is with the President of the Focolare Movement, a lay
spirituality in the Catholic Church .
Pope Francis’ Appeal
14. I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are
shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which
includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are
undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.
Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the
environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of
powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of
interest. Obstructionist attitudes, even on the part of believers, can
range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant
resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions.
We require a new and universal solidarity. All of us can
cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each
according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and
talents. 18
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CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COMMON HOME
The Encyclical is developed around the concept of integral
ecology, as a paradigm able to articulate the fundamental
relationships of the person: with God, with one’s self, with
other human beings, with creation.
The Pope explains in n. 15, this movement starts by listening
spiritually to the results of the best scientific research on
environmental matters available today, “letting them touch us
deeply and provide a concrete foundation for the ethical and
spiritual itinerary that follows”. Science is the best tool by
which we can listen to the cry of the earth.
Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
The Carbon Story of Human Civilization in 180 seconds
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41. In tropical and subtropical seas, we find coral reefs
comparable to the great forests on dry land, for they shelter
approximately a million species, including fish, crabs, molluscs,
sponges and algae. Many of the worlds coral reefs are already
barren or in a state of constant decline. “Who turned the
wonderworld of the seas into underwater cemeteries bereft of
colour and life?”[25]
This phenomenon is due largely to pollution which reaches the
sea as the result of deforestation, agricultural monocultures,
industrial waste and destructive fishing methods, especially those
using cyanide and dynamite. It is aggravated by the rise in
temperature of the oceans. All of this helps us to see that every
intervention in nature can have consequences which are not
immediately evident, and that certain ways of exploiting
resources prove costly in terms of degradation which ultimately
reaches the ocean bed itself.
[25] CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
Pastoral Letter What is Happening to our Beautiful Land? (29 January
1988).
CHAPTER TWO
THE GOSPEL OF CREATION
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95. The natural environment is a collective good, the
patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of
everyone. If we make something our own, it is only to
administer it for the good of all. If we do not, we
burden our consciences with the weight of having
denied the existence of others.
That is why the New Zealand bishops asked what the
commandment “Thou shall not kill” means when
“twenty percent of the world’s population consumes
resources at a rate that robs the poor nations and future
generations of what they need to survive”[78]
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The Gaze of Jesus
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is
forgotten before God” (Lk 12:6).
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Mt 6:26).
The New Testament shows Jesus risen and glorious, present
throughout creation by his universal Lordship:
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in
heaven,” (Col 1:19-20).
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CHAPTER THREE
THE HUMAN ROOTS OF THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
The analysis is then directed towards “the roots of the present
situation, so as to consider not only its symptoms but also its deepest
causes”.
We have placed ourselves at the centre of the universe, as masters of
creation and failed to understand in a profound way what life is for.
At its heart is the concept of the interconnectedness of life caught by
the phrase - an integral ecology. We are not isolated individuals but
part of the larger universe and in a particular place within it.
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This is where the letter becomes far more
than a call to recycle or reduce our carbon
footprint. The abuse of Sister Earth is
linked in a profound way to our way of
understanding human life and
activity. Our technical prowess has
brought us to a crossroads.
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CHAPTER FOUR
INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
The objective is to develop an integral ecological profile which, in
its various dimensions, includes “our unique place as human
beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings”.
Insisting on transparent and inclusive dialogue.
156. Human ecology is inseparable from the notion of the common
good, a central and unifying principle of social ethics. 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 fulfillment”.
“The external deserts in the world are growing because the
internal deserts have become so vast” quote from from Benedict
XVI(152).
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The choices we make affect the lives of others
29
You may not have heard of the rare earth mineral Coltan
niobium-tantalum mineral
Our use of technology cause injustice in the
world!
It is commonly used in the world’s mobile phones,
lap tops, iPods, Nintendo’s, Xboxes and other
electronic devices.
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CHAPTER FIVE
LINES OF APPROACH AND ACTION
Pope Francis proposes a series of guidelines for the renewal of
international, national and local policies, for decision-making
processes in the public and business sector, for the relationship
between politics and economy and that between religion and
science.
Pope Francis highlights as well the importance of more local
dialogues and local politics and the call to bring economics
politics, science and religions into the conversation at every
level.
31
When entire islands disappear - such as Tuvalu, a
Polynesian island nation midway between Hawaii and
Australia — also their culture will be lost forever. Other
countries have offered to host individuals or families, but not
the entire population. “In this way, it also becomes a moral
issue, people of faith have a fundamental role in the
environmental movement: “to connect care for the
environment and the poor.”
Why climate change is a peace issue.” Rabbi Lawrence
Troster (Green Faith), a bioethicist “Civil war in the Middle
East was fostered by a severe drought: “By 2050, we could
have 50 million climate refugees.” The fact that seemingly
many people do not care about climate change is, in his
opinion, due to “a gap in time and space.” Future
generations will be affected by climate change (gap of time),
while most of the people affected now by these changes live
on the other side of the planet (gap of space)”.
32
Asma Mahdi “God has entrusted all
humankind to be stewards,”
Environmental activist, ocean scientist
and member of the organization, Green
Muslims.
A lot of countries with majority
Muslim population are among the most
vulnerable and most severely affected
by rising sea levels due to melting
polar ice. “Bangladesh, for example,
will disappear if water levels rise 4 m,
experts estimate that by 2050, 17% of
the land will be flooded, displacing 18
million people”.
33
Laudato Si is a moral charter for this new age of
sustainable development-Jeffrey Sachs SD15
34
CHAPTER SIX
ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND SPIRITUALITY
Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need
to change. We lack an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging,
and of a future to be shared with everyone. This basic awareness would enable the
development of new convictions, attitudes and forms of life. A great cultural,
spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set
out on the long path of renewal[202].
The current global situation engenders a feeling of instability and uncertainty,
which in turn becomes “a seedbed for collective selfishness”. When people
become self-centred and self- enclosed, their greed increases. The emptier a
person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume[204].
Pope Francis proposes “some inspired guidelines for human development to be
found in the treasure of Christian spiritual experience”.
35
The Australian bishops spoke of the
importance of ecological conversion in order
to achieve reconciliation with creation:
“To achieve such reconciliation, we must
examine our lives and acknowledge the ways
in which we have harmed God’s creation
through our actions and our failure to act.
We need to experience a conversion, or
change of heart”.[153]
36
A small experience November 2014 in Nuomea, New Caledonia
(Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia 2nd Intl Conference)
Together with the 150 delegates from
countries vulnerable to the negative
impacts of climate change
L-R Juliete, Rapa Iti 1200km south of
Papeete, French Polynesia, restoration
ecologist
Christine, American Samoa, coral
conservationist
Prof Virginia Cuevas, Philippines,
microbial ecologist,
Nunia Thomas, Fiji, reptile
conservationist
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From: Juan Fresno
<[email protected]>Date: 24 November 2015 at 04:33Subject: Gen 4 kids' drawnings received by Pope FrancisTo: [email protected], [email protected] David
I am Juan Fresno. I called you a few days ago regarding the ' drawings your community sent to Rome. As I related then, my colleagues who were at that moment in Rome were given the envelope at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and they delivered it to Pope Francis last Thursday.
You will find attached some photos of the moment he received the drawings. He sent greetings "to the friends from Australia".
I am also sending some information about our organization. You can also visit our YouTube channel: Scholas Occurrentes and see these and many other videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgTLtftd9f8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WlSQSYGW34
Kind regards.
Juan Fresno Academic Department
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Final paragraph
245. God, who calls us to generous commitment and to give him our
all, offers us the light and the strength needed to continue on our way.
In the heart of this world, the Lord of life, who loves us so much, is
always present. He does not abandon us, he does not leave us alone,
for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love
constantly impels us to find new ways forward. Praise be to him!
* * *
the Encyclical offers two prayers, the first to be shared with
believers of other religions and the second among Christians.
The Encyclical concludes, as it opened, in a spirit of prayerful
contemplation.
41
El Gamma Penumbra performed their award winning shadow choreography ‘on the care of
mother nature’ at the United Nations 70th anniversary celebration in the Philippines, 23 Oct
2015.
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.
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43
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
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.
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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.
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Brief Bio
Dr Augustine Doronila PhD is an environmental scientist. He
is currently working as a research fellow with the
environmental and analytical chemistry research group at the
School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne and undertakes
research on arsenic and mercury bioavailability and food
chain transfer, heavy metal bioavailability, metal
hyperaccumulation in plants, soil chemistry and plant
nutrition, restoration ecology and post mining reclamation.
Together with with a panel of experts, he contributed to a
recent roundtable convened in October by the Australian
Catholic Social Justice Council (www.acsjc.org.au) to
consider a program of reflection on the future of economic
and social policy in Australia and in the light of empirical
developments and recent interventions by Pope Francis.
He has been recently appointed as a technical expert
for EcoOne (http://www.ecoone.org), an International
Environmental Organization based in Italy. EcoOne is a
cultural initiative promoted internationally by teachers,
researchers and professionals working in the field of
environmental sciences. It endeavours to enrich their
scientific knowledge with a humanistic interpretation of
ecological problems and nature. With other partners, with
whom they pursue the universal destination of goods and the
close interdependence between countries, EcoOne attempts to
introduce environmental issues and principles into social,
political, economic sectors.
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Appendix: definitions from our disciplines:
Human Ecology is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human-
environmental systems. The field seeks to combine understanding of the
biophysical realities of human existence (such as dependence on natural
resources) with the social and psychological dimensions of human health and
well-being (Robert Dyball 2015)
Compare this with one of our working definitions in Landscape Ecology
(Tongway DJ and Ludwig JA 2011)
A functional landscape is one which has a high capacity to provide important
biophysical and socioeconomic goods and services.
Landscape functions include the following:
• Maintaining basic processes such as capturing energy, retaining and using
water and cycling nutrients
• Providing habitats for populations of plants, animals and microorganisms
• Sustaining people by providing their material, cultural and spiritual needs
