Read Laudato Si Yourself

Yesterday, the English text for the latest papal encyclical, Laudato Si was released. The title is taken from a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, which translates to “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.”

This is the document that will link the faith with the environment.  We love God, but we are also to care for His creation.

But if you were to listen to media reports, you will find cherry picked statements, that will best advance a particular point of view, depending upon which channel you listen to.

My suggestion is simply to read it yourself.  Then… read the pundits on both sides.

Initial Thoughts

I am not ready to give my analysis of this document just yet.  But there are a few things that I’ve already noticed.

1. There is no current political platform that agrees with all of this 100 %.  

Liberals will love (and conservatives will disregard) any mention about the need to address income inequality and the failure of the free market to address the needs of the poor.  Liberals will disregard (and conservatives will love) any mention that abortion (“eliminating children because they are not what their parents wanted”) is part of that wasteful consumerist mindset that goes against God’s will, or that gender is a gift that is to be nurtured, not to be “cancelled out” (155).

2. While the document itself does reference certain conventions and conferences (e.g. the United Nations, etc.), the footnotes are entirely of religious figures and documents.  

There are moments where he recites scientific findings that other scientists dispute.  As I am not a scientist, I wish to remain neutral on these public disagreements.  I am also not an economist; I have biases as to how an ideal economy should work.  The pope may have a chemistry background, and may have a political economic worldview that is different from my own, but he is approaching this from a pastoral perspective.  He has witnessed abuses of the economic model to which I subscribe, as well as read the findings of certain scientific conventions.

This is where internal wrestling comes in.  Perhaps I need to reconsider certain arguments, or try to see things from his perspective.  Even if I cannot fully subscribe to some of his conclusions in science and economics (areas outside of faith and morals), I can agree with his underlying faith and morals.

3. There are specific prayers written, both one of St. Francis (87.) and a new prayer at the end. (246). 

I would definitely print these prayers out and use them in your personal time.

Lastly…

It goes without saying, that so far, I have found this document to be both enlightening and challenging.

The good in this document is that it serves to build a bridge in evangelistic dialogue between adherents of the Global Warming/Climate Change movements. And while support for this has decreased over the years, it has still strong resonance within the younger generations. They will appreciate that Pope Francis is addressing an issue that is dear to him. I appreciate his pointing to the bigger picture, and how faith and actions are interrelated.

I’m not ready to voice my concerns in what I initially struggle with. That’s not to be flippant in this regard. For me to be articulate about my concerns, I need to dig deeper in both the arguments in this text, and the understandings as to why I believe what I do. This is in regards to those areas in economics and science that I have good reason to believe hold up to scrutiny.

Even if I cannot agree with minor specifics, I can wholeheartedly embrace the bigger picture, the intent of this landmark document.