Kaylin O’Wade

Project II- Paper and Discussion: Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’

Contemporary Catholicism

As I started this course and continue through it, I feel at times, I am still at a loss on

grasping the theology being brought forth in this course. With that being said, I feel that I do

understand some about Catholic tradition and especially about protecting the environment. We

were given a Great Gift from God and we must cherish and protect it just as we would cherish

and protect a treasured possession that is ours. However, I never had thought of or seen any

connections of religion being tied into ideas from science and even politics.

I feel that Pope Francis’ ideas of religious and science deepen my grasp on the Catholic

approach to faith and what we discussed in class by being opened to the idea of new challenges

and not turning your back on it. In the Catholic faith there is always a helping hand to be

extended to anyone no matter if they are a Catholic or Christian or not. It doesn’t matter of race,

ideas, social class, anything, the church will always help those in need. So Pope Francis then is

saying that even people in various kinds of cultures probably, who don’t all believe in God, he’s

willing to give that helping hand no matter what people think of him and the Catholic Faith,

because everyone needs the Earth and we need to work together to keep it safe.

Just like how people were created through God’s likeness we are creatures made from

God. The earth and everything else in nature for all creatures that is living is also all made from

God. That being said we are all God’s creations and we must take care of it all. We can use the

Earth and do what we need to do but we still just have to watch what we’re doing. It’s like with

people gold mining. After they rip up the land, they “put” it back together and make it the way it

was before they ripped it up. Us as humans will rip up the land, but not all are cleaning and

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putting it back to the way it was. The problem is as Pope Francis said, “This in turn distorted our

mandate to “have dominion” over the earth (cf. Gn 1:28), to “till it and keep it” (Gn 2:15).”

(Pope Francis, p. 32).

Jesus lived a simple life among all people. He didn’t act like he was like a King or

anything. He just lived a normal life with everyone, so then all Jesus was doing was making

everything good and helping others out, so it is a better place for everyone. That was his job as

the Son of God. Then that is the kind of idea we need to help with today’s environmental

problems. Everyone needs to start caring more for all the creations around them. That will then

make everything prosper better, helping people and the environment as a whole.

I think that “universal communion” relates to the idea of “unhealthy dualisms”. Pope

Francis is writing about “universal communion” as like something is being one-sided. He says

about animals and people how can one care about human trafficking but not with animals. That

idea is being one sided. You can’t support and care about one thing and not care about the rest.

So, in this case in the church we are supposed to care for all creatures around us everywhere

from people to animals. Communion brings us together, so we need this idea to incorporate into

the environment to bring all creatures together. By Pope Francis examples such as the human

trafficking one, gave me a better understanding on communion.

What I see with this paradigm is that people and technology can help a lot, but yet at the

same time both are hurting the environment in ways. Technology can help us such as medicine,

but the thing is it seems as bringing more harm due to people not using the power of technology

properly. Technology can also make our lives easier though. Again, it’s just that technology

pollutes air quality with cars and factories for example. There is nothing wrong with us having

this advance technology. We can use it as much as we want. The main issue is that we have this

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power with technology, and we are not all aware of what we are doing with it. We don’t realize

or refuse to see the harm we are doing with some of the technological power thus this would

hamper to keep an equal balance especially when profit is involved.

Pope Francis reminded me of the “imago Dei” by saying “Human beings and material

objects no longer extend a friendly hand to one another; the relationship has become

confrontational.” (Pope Francis, p. 52). With this idea, I feel, it’s being said that humans aren’t

using the technology the way we should be. It’s almost like taking technology for granted and

we don’t pay attention then to what’s happening in our environment. This then reminds me of the

“imago Dei” because we are supposed to take better care of things and not be washed up in

technology the way we are. The technology is taking away from us our “image and likeness of

God”, and us caring for our surroundings.

Pope Francis blames consumerism because he feels it’s making people more selfish and

greedier. Business people get greedy with making money and tricking people to buy stuff they

don’t need. Then the people who buy the stuff get all stuck up because they’re too worried over

something that’s not important and the overall idea of consumerism makes people heartless and

less caring thus making them not caring about the environment.

Because Pope Francis feels that a good education and to keep the environment good

(Pope Francis, p. 104). The problem is that it’s not happening that well anymore. Schools though

do promote to help the environment in many ways. So, education is the start to show kids when

they’re younger to start caring about the environment more. The combo of education and helping

the environment is the key to start showing better lifestyles but people must take time to

appreciate their surroundings, so they have respect for it, and they want to learn how to take care

of it.

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 For an “ecological conversion”, Christians need an internal conversion. They need to

respect and appreciate, God’s Creation. But for the “continual conversion” Christians need to

look inward at themselves and find caring and compassion just as St. Francis of Assisi.

For humans, we are always “in process” from doing wrong to achieving right or just

staying on the correct path. Through education and learning from the church, the schools, and

families teaching habits and virtues can instill the right direction, we need to be taking. God

always believes in us and gives us chances to do the right thing towards humanity and all living

things. “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and

care for it.” (Genesis 2:15).

For me the most significant link between the encyclical and the course for me

understanding the idea of the Catholic faith always being welcoming and helping all. I know

throughout this paper I stated ideas among those lines. Reading the encyclical, that was the idea

that stuck with me the whole time. I remember when we discussed in class about the church was

to bring people together and that was why, one of the reasons why, you should go to church.

Then the church started designing churches to be more “welcoming” by making pews like a half

circle so everyone can feel closer and brought together as oppose to the old way with just having

rows. Everything was redesigned to bring everyone together. So, in the encyclical the main idea

is Pope Francis writing about how the faith can tie in with the political problems on the

environment to care, to help, and to bring people closer together. Everyone and everything on

this Earth needs it to live. We need to care for it. Humans need to care for humans and all God’s

creations. Plus, when caring for the Earth, everyone is in it together. The church is made up of

humans too and they need the Earth too. Why can’t they help and care right? That is the key with

what Pope Francis was writing about. The general helping and caring Catholics do can be put

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into the enjoinment. Then that will bring people together even more. That is what I felt tied into

the link between the course and the encyclical.

I feel what the gem I found in the encyclical that helped me address a spiritual question

was the idea of God’s creations. I did not really have a question in mind exactly for this nor had

one previously. However, the encyclical did reinforce an idea for my knowledge about the

Catholic faith and the idea of God’s creations. At first, I did not understand how science would

tie into religion at all. Thinking about it most people into science to begin with most likely do not

believe in any kind of higher being. Also just think of any kind of science, religion never comes

to mind at all, at least for me. After reading the encyclical though, I see the connections between

the two more and it is clearer. God created the Earth, plants, humans, animals; everything living

on Earth is his creations. I understand the ties between religion and science now. Both have to do

with nature, and both want to care for it. Whether people believe within the Catholic faith and

recognize nature as something God has made or not, everyone can agree that the Earth is a great

gift and we were given this gift. No matter where anyone’s beliefs lie, we must take care of the

environment. This is what I had gathered from reading Pope Francis’ encyclical.