Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home

by Pope Francis

Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

SC.BE.BER

Publication

Dublin : Veritas Publications

Description

"In the "Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality," the beloved Pope exhorts the world to combat environmental degradation and its impact on the poor. In a stirring, clarion call that is not merely aimed at Catholic readers but rather at a wide, lay audience, the Pope cites the overwhelming scientific evidence of climate change, and does not hesitate to detail how it is the result of a historic level of unequal distribution of wealth."--Provided by publisher.

User reviews

LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
The encyclical is a good read, and demonstrates a tread in the Catholic Church, should the bishops as a whole get on board with its concepts, a useful framework for achieving work towards coping with the climate changes we all face. I'm not a Catholic, but the work seems to approve of the
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involvement of that community of believers in the struggle to survive the the next century, and thus is worthy of favourable comment. It is short on hard data, but I am sure does provide useful precepts and good pithy quotes on the overall topics. Like Naomi Klein's "This Changes Everything", the modern Oil business does get a good deal of criticism in these pages. It is well deserved.
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LibraryThing member willszal
I’ve been reading Naomi Klein’s “This Changes Everything.” It’s a primer in 21st century environmentalism. It’s a large book, and just covers the bare minimum of what anybody anywhere near the environmental movement should be fully aware. But if you don’t have time for such a text,
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and want something more sweeping and inspiring, read this.

Our pope’s recent encyclical is a groundbreaking text. I would go as far as to call it a turning point in the role of the Catholic Church in the history of humanity. There have been other inflection points, but I don’t think they’ve been as pronounced.

I think the best way to illustrate this is by looking directly at the text.

Table of Contents
- What is Happening to Our Common Home
- The Gospel of Creation
- The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
- Integral Ecology
- Lines of Approach and Action
- Ecological Education and Spirituality

Quotes
“[Saint] Francis asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there.”

“Our goal is not to amass information or to satisfy curiosity, but rather to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it."

“The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all."

“We seem to think that we can substitute an irreplaceable and irretrievable beauty with something which we have created ourselves."

“Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and nature. Todays media do enable us to communicate and to share our knowledge and affections. Yet at times they also shield us from direct contact with the pain, the fears and the joys of others and the complexity of their personal experiences. For this reason, we should be concerned that, alongside the exciting possibilities offered by these media, a deep and melancholic dissatisfaction with interpersonal relations, or a harmful sense of isolation, can also arise."

“The foreign debt of poor countries has become a way of controlling them, yet this is not the case where ecological debt is concerned."

“As often occurs in periods of deep crisis which require bold decisions, we are tempted to think that what is happening is not entirely clear."

“Given the complexity of the ecological crisis and its multiple causes, we need to realize that the solutions will not emerge from just one way of interpreting and transforming reality."

“God rejects every claim to absolute ownership."

“Land shall not be sold in perpetuity.” - Leviticus

“Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other."

“There is always a social mortgage on all private property.” - Saint John Paul II

“Contemporary man has not been trained to use power well, because our immense technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience."

“It has become countercultural to choose a lifestyle whose goals are even partly independent of technology."

“The fragmentation of knowledge proves helpful for concrete applications, and yet it often leads to a loss of appreciation for the whole."

“We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental."

“There is a need to incorporate the history, culture, and architecture of each place, thus preserving its original identity."

For indigenous peoples, “land is not a commodity but rather a gift from God and from their ancestors who rest there, a sacred space with which they need to interact if they are to maintain their identity and values."

“The post-industrial period may well be remembered as one of the most irresponsible in history."

“It is not enough to balance, in the medium term, the protection of nature with financial gains, or the preservation of the environment with progress. Halfway measures simply delay the inevitable disaster. Put simply, it is a matter of redefining our notion of progress."

“No one can cultivate a sober and satisfying life without being at peace with him or herself… Inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good because, lived out authentically, it is reflected in a balanced lifestyle together with a capacity for wonder which takes us to a deeper understanding of life."

“We tend to demean contemplative rest as something unproductive and unnecessary, but this is to do away wit the very thing which is most important about work: its meaning."

Notable Terms
Sister earth
Integral ecology
Social ecology
Subsidiarity
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LibraryThing member dpevers
As books on sustainability go, this one is a light read--which is not bad given the intended audience. As expected, religious reasons for sustainability are not withheld, with a heavy dose of Roman Catholic doctrine included. More than a bit word-heavy in places. Being in the sustainability
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profession, I did not see much new.
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Language

Original publication date

2015

ISBN

9781847305978

Local notes

Contents

- Nothing in this world is indifferent to us
- United by the same concern
- Saint Francis of Assisi
- My appeal

Chapter One: What is Happening to Our Common Home
I. Pollution and Climate Change
- Pollution, waste and the throwaway culture
- Climate as a common good
II. The Issue of Water
III. Loss of Biodiversity
IV. Decline in the Quality of Human Life and the Breakdown of Society
V. Global Inequality
VI. Weak Responses
VII. A Variety of Opinions

Chapter Two: The Gospel of Creation
I. The Light Offered by Faith
II. The Wisdom of the Biblical Accounts
III. The Mystery of the Universe
IV. The Message of Each Creature in the Harmony of Creation
V. A Universal Communion
VI. The Common Destination of Goods
VII. The Gaze of Jesus

Chapter Three: The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
I. Technology: Creativity and Power
II. The Globalisation of the Technocratic Paradigm
III. The Crisis and Effects of Modern Anthropocentrism
- Practical relativism
- The need to protect employment
- New biological technologies

Chapter Four: Integral Ecology
I. Environmental, Economic and Social Ecology
II. Cultural Ecology
III. Ecology of Daily Life
IV. The Principle of the Common Good
V. Justice Between the Generations

Chapter Five: Lines of Approach and Action
I. Dialogue on the Environment in the International Community
II. Dialogue for New National and Local Policies
III. Dialogue and Transparency in Decision-Making
IV. Politics and Economy in Dialogue for Human Fulfilment
V. Religions in Dialogue with Science

Chapter Six: Ecological Education and Spirituality
I. Towards a New Lifestyle
II. Educating for the Covenant between Humanity and the Environment
III. Ecological Conversion
IV. Joy and Peace
V. Civic and Political Love
VI. Sacramental Signs and the Celebration of Rest
VII. The Trinity and the Relationship between Creatures
VIII. Queen of All Creation
IX. Beyond the Sun

Conclusion

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