Scottish Catholic Observer

On the day Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On the care of our common home was published I was sitting on my favourite rock on a very special beach on the south coast watching the waves. This is a place I go back to regularly to rest and read, and I am constantly caught in an overwhelming sense of awe and wonder of, in the words of EE Cummings, ‘everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes.’ What more fitting place then to read Pope Francis’ reflection on the saint who’s name he took as his guide, and his invitation to become ever more aware of ‘the universe [that] unfolds in God, who fills it completely…[and of the] mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dew drop, in a poor persons face… 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]

I was drawn to the Holy Father’s invitation to us all to rediscover our true place in the world, to recognise and reacquaint ourselves with our intimate connection to God, each other and the precious environment that is our home.

Laudato Si’ is a social encyclical in the broadest sense, examining how individuals and humanity in general can achieve their greatest fulfilment and flourish, in loving relationships with God, one another and creation, serving the common good in justice, not just now but for generations to come. It is anthropological in addressing how people should order their lives and live together, and ecological in examining how we should care for our common home.

In the opening sections of the encyclical Pope Francis returns to the words with which he launched his pontificate, ‘I am sinner but I am loved.’ From a palpable sense of being loved and that ‘the world is charged with the grandeur of God,’ Pope Francis highlights many ways that we as individuals—and the moral, technocratic and economic systems we have created—have lost contact with our interconnected reality. This has led us to become self-centred, and isolated from one another and creation, resulting in widespread social and environmental destruction. Instead of seeing ourselves as part of nature, we have manipulated creation for our own self-interest without regard to the people, animals and planet on which ultimately our own survival and happiness depend upon.

Pope Francis speaks to us of our common home and how Mother Earth ‘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.’ He urges us to recognise how the greatest harm has fallen upon the poorest people in our world, while ‘those who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms.’ Climate change is highlighted as one of the ‘principal challenges facing humanity’ with serious implications for the environment, society, the economy and the fair distribution of goods.

But Laudato Si’ provides us with a clear ray of Christian hope in love: “All is not lost,” Pope Francis counsels us, “Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start.” We are invited to ask: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” Each of us—as individuals, members of families, local communities, nations and the international community—are called to ‘fraternal love [that] can only be gratuitous’ [228], and a profound ‘ecological conversion’ [216], which ‘fosters a spirit of generous care, full of tenderness’ [220].

The encyclical proposes a new approach to politics and the economy, based on the common good and an integral ecology ‘which respects our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings.’ Pope Francis is clear that the current global economic system has failed, and has unleashed an ‘ecological explosion under the effective explosion of industrial civilisation.’ While the encyclical recognises the great contribution technology has made to improving living conditions, it observes that technology has given those with knowledge and money an “impressive dominance over the whole of humanity and the entire world.” Pope Francis reminds us of the limits of economic growth and the environment, and invites us to recall the ‘ancient lesson… [that] “less is more”’ How much economic growth is needed? Should technological solutions always be used when they carry a human and environmental cost? Isn’t it time that we returned to a place where the economy serves the common good, instead of humanity serving the economy?

As well as being a very significant and welcome addition to the social teaching of the Church, the encyclical is carefully timed to influence major global negotiations this year. Pope Francis will speak at the United Nations in New York before its Sustainable Development Goals’ conference in September and will personally deliver his urgent appeal ‘for a new dialogue about how we are changing the future of our planet.’ In December a further UN summit in Paris will try to secure a new global deal to tackle climate change and ensure poorer countries get the help they need to adapt to the climate challenges they face and develop in an environmentally sustainable way.

As I left my rock I was filled with immense gratitude for the world around me and the teachings of Pope Francis and a renewed drive to make changes in my own life, to practice the ‘simple daily gestures which break the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness’ [230]. Pope Francis reminds us that ‘love… is also civic and political’ [231]. Referring to the words of Pope Benedict XVI in Caritas in Veritatae, he reminds us that love is concerned not only with relationships between individuals but also ‘macro-relationships (social, economic and political)’ [2]. As one human family, we can work together to demand that those with power to help create a more just world for all, including a healthy planet our children can call home for generations to come.

—Alistair Dutton is the director of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF.)

—SCIAF is joining people of goodwill worldwide to urge Prime Minister David Cameron and other leaders to ensure that every country does its bit to tackle climate change and global poverty. Visit www.sciaf.org.uk/campaigns to take action.