"LAUDATO SI', mi Signore" - "Praise be to you, my Lord." These are the words that open Pope Francis' encyclical on ecology and care for God's creation. These words, quoting St. Francis of Assisi's beautiful canticle, remind 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.
Pope Francis addresses Laudato Si’, to “every person on the planet,” for we all share a common home - the earth. He focuses on a number of important themes.
- A Moral and Spiritual Challenge. The ecological crisis, Pope Francis writes, is a summons to profound interior conversion — to renew our relationships with God, one another, and the created world.
- Care for God’s Creation. God created the world and entrusted it to us as a gift. Now we have the responsibility to care for and protect it and all people, who are part of creation. Protecting human dignity is strongly linked to care for creation.
- We are All Connected. We are connected to the rest of the human family, to the created world, and to those who will come after us in future generations.
- Impact on the Poor. People in poverty have contributed least to climate change, yet they are disproportionately impacted by it. As a result of excessive use of natural resources by wealthy nations, those who are poor experience pollution, lack of access to clean water, hunger, and more.
- Called to Solidarity. We are one human family and have a shared responsibility for others and for creation. Wealthy countries have a responsibility to reduce consumption and should help poorer nations develop in sustainable ways.
- Technological and economic development must serve human beings and enhance human dignity, instead of creating an economy of exclusion, so that all people have access to what is needed for authentic human development.
- Supporting Life, Protecting Creation. Concern for nature is incompatible with failure to protect vulnerable human beings, such as unborn children, people with disabilities, or victims of human trafficking.
- A Time to Act. Pope Francis calls for a change in lifestyle and consumption. We can make important changes as individuals, families, and communities, and as civil and political leaders.
- Hope and Joy. “Injustice is not invincible” (no. 74) and we act knowing that we seek to live out God’s vision of renewed relationships with God, ourselves, one another, and creation.
~ You can read the Encyclical here. ~
Source: Excerpt from Bulletin Insert from usccb.org
