Transcript OHara Faith Our Climate Laudato Si An

Faith and Our Climate
Uniting Generations
Laudato Si
On the Care of Our Common Home:
An Overview
Dennis Patrick O’Hara
Faculty of Theology
University of St. Michael’s
College
Laudato Si’ – Praise Be to You
♦ 184 pages
● Introduction
● 6 Chapters
● 2 Prayers
♦ an Encyclical
● high level of authority
♦ highly anticipated
♦ wide consultation
What’s new or especially
emphasized
1. intercommunion among Divine – human – rest of
creation
2. humans are part of creation, not separate from it
a) social & eco justice are linked
b) strong causal link between suffering of poor & suffering of
poor Earth
3. intrinsic value of each creature
4. overconsumption is a primary cause of climate change
5. need a radical change of culture
6. political & economic leaders have not done enough
1. intercommunion among Divine –
human – rest of creation
♦ “…human life is grounded in three fundamental
and closely intertwined relationships: with God,
with our neighbour and with the earth itself.
According to the Bible, these three vital
relationships have been broken, both outwardly
and within us. This rupture is sin. The harmony
between the Creator, humanity and creation as a
whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the
place of God and refusing to acknowledge our
creaturely limitations.” (66)
2. humans are part of creation, not
separate from it
“…as part of the universe, called into being by one
Father, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and
together form a kind of universal family, a sublime
communion which fills us with a sacred,
affectionate and humble respect. …‘God has
joined us so closely to the world around us that we
can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a
physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as
a painful disfigurement cry of the poor and the cry
of Earth’.” (89; Evangelii Gaudium, 215)
2. humans are part of creation, not
separate from it
a) social & eco justice are linked
♦ “we have to realize that a true ecological
approach always becomes a social approach; it
must integrate questions of justice in debates on
the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the
earth and the cry of the poor.” (49)
2. humans are part of creation, not
separate from it
b)
strong causal link between suffering of human
poor and the poor Earth
♦ “A true ‘ecological debt’ exists, particularly between the
global north and south, connected to commercial imbalances
with effects on the environment…. (51) The foreign debt of
poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet
this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned. …
The developed countries ought to help pay this debt by
significantly limiting their consumption of non-renewable
energy and by assisting poorer countries to support policies
and programmes of sustainable development. … We must
continue to be aware that, regarding climate change, there are
differentiated responsibilities.” (52)
3. intrinsic value of each creature
♦ “different creatures … have an intrinsic value
independent of their usefulness. Each organism, as a
creature of God, is good and admirable in itself; the same
is true of the harmonious ensemble of organisms existing
in a defined space and functioning as a system.” (140)
♦ “The ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be
found in us. Rather, all creatures are moving forward
with us and through us towards a common point of
arrival, which is God, in that transcendent fullness where
the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things.” (83)
4. overconsumption is a primary
cause of climate change
♦ We have “a throwaway culture which affects the
excluded just as it quickly reduces things to
rubbish. … We have not yet managed to adopt a
circular model of production capable of
preserving resources for present and future
generations, while limiting as much as possible
the use of non-renewable resources, moderating
their consumption, maximizing their efficient
use, reusing and recycling them.” (22)
5. need a radical change of culture
♦ “The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to
confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of
striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the
present with concern for all and without prejudice
towards coming generations.” (53)
♦ “A strategy for real change calls for rethinking
processes in their entirety, for it is not enough to
include a few superficial ecological considerations while
failing to question the logic which underlies present-day
culture. A healthy politics needs to be able to take up
this challenge.” (197)
6. political & economic leaders have
not done enough
♦ “We lack leadership capable of striking out on
new paths and meeting the needs of the present
with concern for all and without prejudice
towards coming generations. The establishment of
a legal framework which can set clear boundaries
and ensure the protection of ecosystems has
become indispensable….” (53)
♦ “It is remarkable how weak international political
responses have been.” (54)