Conversation with Pope Francis

Your Preface of Laudato Si affected me in a somber way, it made me feel like we live in a very
greedy world. I feel our country always is looking at what the end product is and how it will
benefit us, but we do not realize or seem to care what waste or destruction is left behind. Your
quote “Man is not only a freedom which he creates for himself. Man does not create himself. He
is spirit and will, but also nature.” [11] makes us realize that we truly are part of the earth
(nature), as we come from it, and if we are nature, man should respect nature as though it was
his own body. We would not treat our own body the same way we treat the earth and its
resources.

Watching Greta Thunberg’s video was riveting. Her determination, pain and feelings made me
pay attention to what she was saying. Greta remarks “We will be watching you” and “How dare
you?” I feel that yourself, God and Greta are all watching. I feel that man should look at their
actions and try to find ways to change them to benefit all of mankind and species alike.
Attenborough’s video was told in a way that was less accusatory and finger-pointing but the
message was portrayed very clearly. I believe we all feel the same in that we, the people, need
to stop and take a closer look at the footprint we are leaving behind. We need to educate
others and make them aware, and we need to protect our endangered species and our human
race. NASA’s information on global warming, the earth and ocean’s changes over the years, and
where we think we will be in the next several decades is also eye-opening.

When you say, “The deterioration of nature is closely connected to the culture which shapes
human co-existence.” I believe you are saying that it is us as humans that are so close to nature,
and we are the ones that are not able to co-exist with nature without harming it and using up all
it resources and then leaving it as useless. Am I understanding this correctly?

I learned that from Greta that we can only do so much on our own, and that we must hold others
accountable. The world cannot be changed by one person alone, and it cannot be changed
overnight. It will take us longer to reconstruct nature than it did to destroy it. As Attenborough’s
video portrayed, we cannot continue to use resources at the rate we are, our world will be spent
and of no value to our children’s children. Our water supply issue affects more than the water we
drink. It affects sea life, vegetation, and the entire world.