Amiel C.

Saquisame
2-K
Sem-3

ENCYCLICAL LETTER ‘LAUDATO SI’ OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

I. Overview
‘Laudato si’ means ‘Praise be to you’ in Umbrian. Pope Francis began his encyclical with words from Saint Francis
of Assisi’s canticle, “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who
produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs”.1 ‘Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home’ serves as a call
for everyone to unite and cooperate in creating measures to save the environment and sustain it for future generations, it
aims to remind us of existing environmental crisis that has affected our Common Home- the Earth that has suffered from
our constant, irresponsible and uncontrollable consumption which led to deterioration not only of our natural environment
but also our social environment thus affecting the quality of our lives. The encyclical was published on May 24, 2015,
and it contains six (6) chapters with two-hundred and forty-six (246) paragraphs. The text describes the present
conditions brought by the present ecological crisis, its adverse effects to the relationship of the people with creation, and
the possible remedies to prevent further deterioration of man’s relationship with creation. While encyclicals are
commonly addressed to Roman Catholic bishops, Laudato Si, given the universal nature of our common home, is not
only addressed the encyclical to the members of the Church but also as a tool to “enter into dialogue” 2 with all people
who are united by the same concern.3 The encyclical highlights, ‘the  intimate relationship between the poor and the
fragility of the planet, the conviction that everything in the world is connected, the critique of new paradigms and forms of
power derived from technology, the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress, the value
proper to each creature, the human meaning of ecology, the need for forthright and honest debate, the serious
responsibility of international and local policy, the throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle’.4

II. Common Home and Ecological Crisis

Pope Francis first introduced the concept of ‘rapidification’ or the continued acceleration of changes affecting
humanity and the planet is coupled today with a more intensified pace of life and work. 5 While change is desirable, it
becomes a source of anxiety when it causes harm to the world and to the quality of life of humanity. The pope tackles
problems such as pollution, waste, the throw-away culture, climate change, the water crisis, loss of biodiversity, links
between ecological degradation and inequality, urbanization, and the weak international political responses that have
been made to date.
1
Pope Francis. 2015. Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home  [Encyclical] (para. 1)
2
(para. 3)
3
(para. 4)
4
(para. 16)
5
(para. 18)
 The first chapter, “What Is Happening to Our Common Home” thoroughly discusses the forms of environmental
degradation we currently. With global warming, humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle,
production and consumption to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it.
Studies show that global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases released as
a result of human activity. The gas build-up in the atmosphere hampers the escape of heat produced by sunlight at the
earth’s surface. The problem is aggravated by the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide
energy system.6 Warming affects the carbon cycle which worsens the situation by affecting the availability of essential
resources like drinking water, energy and agricultural production in warmer regions, and leading to the extinction of part
of the planet’s biodiversity. Things are made worse by the loss of tropical forests which are helpful to mitigate climate
change. Carbon dioxide pollution increases the acidification of the oceans and compromises the marine food chain. If
present trends continue, this century may witness extraordinary climate change and unprecedented destruction of
ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us.7

Pope Francis also correlates environment degradation to the quality of life we now have, highlighting the
disproportionate and unruly growth of many cities, which have become unhealthy to live in, not only because of pollution
caused by toxic emissions but also as a result of urban chaos, poor transportation, and visual pollution and noise. We
have huge cities with inefficient structures, excessively wasteful of energy and water, resulting to neighborhoods which
are congested, chaotic and lacking in sufficient green space and deprived of physical contact with nature.8

The second chapter, “The Gospel of Creation”, defines the world the way that God intended it. Pope Francis writes
that 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. This in turn distorted our
mandate to “have dominion” over the earth (cf. Gen  1:28), to “till it and keep it” (Gen  2:15). 9

On the third chapter, Pope Francis introduces the “The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis” grounded on the
concepts of “technocratic paradigm” and a “modern anthropocentrism”.  These notions have led to the misplaced ideas
that the earth’s resources are infinite and that economic growth and technology alone can solve global hunger and
poverty. However, a purely materialistic view of reality has not only resulted in disregard for the environment, but also
undermined the worth of a human life, especially those forms viewed as having little or no utility – human embryos, the
poor, or people with disabilities. When human beings place themselves at the center, they give absolute priority to
immediate convenience and all else becomes relative. Hence we should not be surprised to find, along with omnipresent
technocratic paradigm and the cult of unlimited human power, the rise of a relativism which sees everything as irrelevant
6
(para. 23)
7
(para. 24)
8
(para. 44)
9
(para. 66)
unless it serves one’s own immediate interests. There is logic in all this whereby different attitudes can feed on one
another, leading to environmental degradation and social decay.10

III. Integral Ecology and Other Modes to Resolve Ecological Crisis

In the fourth chapter, Pope Francis ‘Integral Ecology’ interrelates the human, social and environmental relations of
people to resolve the existing ecological crisis. He calls for an integral and sustainable human development which
respects intergenerational justice.11 The fifth chapter identifies five approaches to action: dialogue on the environment in
the international community; new national and local policies and laws; transparent political processes; a dialogue
between politics and economy for the sake of human fulfillment; and a dialogue between science and religion.
Enforceable international agreements are urgently needed, since local authorities are not always capable of effective
intervention. Relations between states must be respectful of each other’s sovereignty, but must also lay down mutually
agreed means of averting regional disasters which would eventually affect everyone. Global regulatory norms are
needed to impose obligations and prevent unacceptable actions, for example, when powerful companies or countries
dump contaminated waste or offshore polluting industries in other countries.12

In conclusion, Pope Francis writes that above all it is human beings that must change. In Chapter 6 he calls us to
responsible consumerism and to live sustainably.13Among the solutions included are environmental education and
ecological conversion14- aimed at creating an “ecological citizenship”. The existence of laws and regulations is
insufficient in the long run to curb bad conduct, even when effective means of enforcement are present. If the laws
are to bring about significant, long-lasting effects, the majority of the members of society must be adequately
motivated to accept them, and personally transformed to respond.15  Ecological conversion and self-improvement on
the part of individuals will not by itself remedy the extremely complex situation facing our world today. 16 Ecological
education can take place in a variety of settings: at school, in families, in the media, in catechesis and elsewhere.
Good education, acknowledging the great importance of the family, which is “the place in which life – the gift of God –
can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in
accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth.’ In conclusion, the encyclical reminds us to be grateful
with what we have, to be mindful of how much we consume and to turn to God, to creation, to ourselves and to our
fellow beings for ecological conversion. Caring for our common home demands awareness and consciousness, to
acknowledge that God created the world, to change our lifestyles as a form of discipline not only within ourselves but
by setting example to others either at home, in school or in our respective civic and even political communities.

10
(para. 122)
11
(para. 137)
12
(para. 173)
13
(para. 206)
14
(para. 210)
15
(para. 211)
16
(para. 219)