ENCYCLICAL LAUDATO SI
Encyclical letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Francis on the care of our Common Home
1. «Laudato si’, mi’ Signore» – «Praise you, my Lord», sang Saint Francis of Assisi. In this beautiful song, he reminded us that our common home is also like a sister, with whom we share existence, and like a beautiful mother who welcomes us in her arms: “Praise you, my Lord, for our sister, our mother earth, the which sustains us, and rules and produces various fruits with colorful flowers and grass ».1
2. This sister cries out for the damage we caused her due to the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has placed in her. We have grown up thinking that we were the owners of it and dominators of it, authorized to plunder it. The violence that exists in the human heart, wounded by sin, is also manifested in the symptoms of disease that we notice on the ground, in the water, in the air, and in living beings. For this reason, among the most abandoned and mistreated poor, is our oppressed and devastated land, which “groans and travails” (Rom 8:22). We forget that we ourselves are earth (cf. Gn 2,7). Our own body is made up of the elements of the planet, its air is what gives us breath and its water vivifies and restores us.
Nothing in this world is indifferent to us
3. More than fifty years ago, when the world was teetering on the brink of a nuclear crisis, the holy Pope John XXIII wrote an encyclical in which he was not content with rejecting war, but wanted to convey a proposal for peace. He addressed his Pacem in terris message to the entire “Catholic world”, but added “and to all men of good will”. Now, in the face of global environmental deterioration, I want to address every person who inhabits this planet. In my exhortation Evangelii gaudium, I wrote to the members of the Church in order to mobilize a process of missionary reform still pending. In this encyclical, I especially try to enter into dialogue with everyone about our common home.
4. Eight years after Pacem in Terris, in 1971, Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological problem, presenting it as a crisis, which is “a dramatic consequence” of the uncontrolled activity of the human being: “Due to exploitation inconsiderate of nature, runs the risk of destroying it and of being a victim of this degradation».2 He also spoke to the FAO about the possibility of an «ecological catastrophe under the effect of the explosion of industrial civilization», underlining the « urgency and the need for a radical change in the behavior of humanity », because « the most extraordinary scientific progress, the most astonishing technical feats, the most prodigious economic growth, if they are not accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will ultimately turn against man».3
5. Saint John Paul II dealt with this topic with increasing interest. In his first encyclical, he warned that human beings seem “not to perceive other meanings of their natural environment, but only those that serve the purposes of immediate use and consumption.”4 Subsequently, he called for a global ecological conversion.5 But at the same time has noted that little effort is made to “safeguard the moral conditions of an authentic human ecology.” a gift that must be protected from various forms of degradation. Any pretense of caring for and improving the world implies profound changes in «lifestyles, production and consumption models, the consolidated power structures that govern society today».7 Authentic human development has a moral character and presupposes the full respect for the human person, but must also pay attention to the natural world and “take into account the nature of each being and their mutual connection in an orderly system”.8 Therefore, the ability to transform reality that beings have must develop on the basis of the original gift of things by God.9
6. My predecessor Benedict XVI renewed the invitation to “eliminate the structural causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correct growth models that seem incapable of guaranteeing respect for the environment.”10 He recalled that the world cannot be analyzed alone isolating one of its aspects, because “the book of nature is one and indivisible”, and includes the environment, life, sexuality, family, social relations, etc. Consequently, “the degradation of nature is closely linked to the culture that shapes human coexistence.”11 Pope Benedict proposed that we recognize that the natural environment is full of wounds produced by our irresponsible behavior. The social environment also has its wounds. But all of them are basically due to the same evil, that is, to the idea that there are no indisputable truths that guide our lives, for which reason human freedom has no limits. It is forgotten that “man is not only a freedom that he creates for himself. Man does not create himself. It is spirit and will, but also nature».12 With paternal concern, he invited us to become aware that creation is harmed «where we ourselves are the last instance, where the whole is simply our property and consumption is only for ourselves. The waste of creation begins where we no longer recognize any instance above us, but only see ourselves ».13
United by the same concern
7. These contributions of the Popes gather the reflection of innumerable scientists, philosophers, theologians and social organizations that enriched the thought of the Church on these questions. But we cannot ignore that, also outside the Catholic Church, other Churches and Christian Communities – as well as other religions – have developed a broad concern and valuable reflection on these issues that concern us all. To give just one notable example, I want to briefly collect part of the contribution of the beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, with whom we share the hope of full ecclesial communion.
8. Patriarch Bartholomew has referred particularly to the need for everyone to repent of their own ways of harming the planet, because, “to the extent that we all generate small ecological damage”, we are called to recognize “our contribution – small or large – to the disfigurement and destruction of creation».14 On this point he has repeatedly expressed himself in a firm and stimulating way, inviting us to recognize the sins against creation: «That human beings destroy biological diversity in the divine creation; that humans degrade the integrity of the earth and contribute to climate change by stripping the land of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; that human beings contaminate the water, the soil, the air. All these are sins ».15 Because « a crime against nature is a crime against ourselves and a sin against God ».16
9. At the same time, Bartolomé drew attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of environmental problems, which invite us to find solutions not only in technology but in a change of the human being, because otherwise we would only face the symptoms. He proposed that we move from consumption to sacrifice, from greed to generosity, from waste to the ability to share, in an asceticism that “means learning to give, and not simply giving up. It is a way of loving, of passing little by little from what I want to what God’s world needs. It is liberation from fear, from greed, from dependency ».17 Christians are also called to « accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and with our neighbor on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the smallest detail contained in the seamless garments of God’s creation, down to the last grain of dust on our planet ».18
San Francisco de Asis
10. I do not want to develop this encyclical without resorting to a beautiful model that can motivate us. I took his name as a guide and inspiration at the time of my election as Bishop of Rome. I believe that Francis is the quintessential example of caring for what is weak and of an integral ecology, lived with joy and authenticity. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in ecology, loved also by many who are not Christians. He showed particular attention to God’s creation and to the poorest and most abandoned. He loved and was loved for his joy, his generous giving, his universal heart. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived simply and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. It shows how inseparable concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society and inner peace are inseparable.
11. Their testimony also shows us that an integral ecology requires openness towards categories that transcend the language of mathematics or biology and connect us with the essence of what is human. Just as it happens when we fall in love with a person, every time he looked at the sun, the moon or the smallest animals, his reaction was to sing, incorporating other creatures into his praise. He entered into communication with everything created, and even preached to the flowers «inviting them to praise the Lord, as if they enjoyed the gift of reason».19 His reaction was much more than an intellectual assessment or an economic calculation, because for him any creature was a sister, bound to him in ties of affection. That is why he felt called to take care of everything that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure said of him that, “filled with the greatest tenderness in considering the common origin of all things, he gave all creatures, no matter how despicable they might seem, the sweet name of sisters.”20 This conviction cannot be despised as irrational romanticism, because it has consequences for the choices that determine our behavior. If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to amazement and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of brotherhood and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitudes will be those of the dominator, the consumer, or the mere exploiter of resources, incapable of putting a limit to his immediate interests. On the other hand, if we feel intimately united to everything that exists, sobriety and care will emerge spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were not merely exterior asceticism, but something more radical: a refusal to turn reality into a mere object of use and domination.
12. On the other hand, Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, proposes that we recognize…