L A U D A T O S I'

OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

“LAUDATO SI', MI SIGNORE”
PRAISE BE TO YOU, MY LORD.

“Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister,

Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and
who produces various fruit with coloured
flowers and herbs”

-Saint Francis of Assissi

 WHAT IS HAPPENING
TO OUR COMMON HOME
CHANGES AFFECTING HUMANITY AND
PLANET
+
INTENSIFIED PACE OF LIFE AND WORK

≠
NATURAL SLOW PACE OF BIOLOGICAL
EVOLUTION
Pollution, waste, and throwaway culture.

Health hazards and premature death. Especially for the poor.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
 DECLINE IN THE QUALITY OF HUMAN
LIFE AND THE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY
“WE WERE NOT MEANT TO BE INUNDATED
BY CEMENT, ASPHALT, GLASS AND METAL,
AND DEPRIVED OF PHYSICAL CONTACT
WITH NATURE.”
ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
WILL BE SOLVED BY
TECHNOLOGY

POPULATION SHOULD BE
REDUCED TO PREVENT
ECOLOGICAL HARM
“If we scan the regions of our planet,
we immediately see that humanity
has disappointed God’s expectations”
-Pope John Paul II
 CHAPTER TWO:
THE GOSPEL OF
CREATION
 I. THE LIGHT OFFERED BY FAITH
• Although simply being human is “ample motivation” to care for
nature and vulnerable human communities, faith also motivates
Christians to care for the environment and the poor.

II. THE WISDOM OF THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS

• The biblical narratives have much to say about the
relationship of human beings with the world.

• Human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely

intertwined relationships—with God, with our neighbor and
with the earth itself—yet these relationships have been
broken, both outwardly and within us, by sin.

• The earth was here before us and it has been given to us by

God. “Dominion” over the earth is not an excuse for
“unbridled exploitation”
 III. THE MYSTERY OF THE UNIVERSE
• The word “creation” has a broader meaning than “nature”, for it has
to do with God’s loving plan in which “every creature has its own
value and significance.”

IV. THE MESSAGE OF EACH CREATURE IN THE

HARMONY OF CREATION
• Each creature has its own purpose. The Spirit of life
dwells in every living creature and calls us to enter into
relationship with him.
V. A UNIVERSAL COMMUNION
• Humans are “linked by unseen bonds and together form
a kind of universal family.” Concern for the environment
needs to be joined to a “sincere love for our fellow
human beings and an unwavering commitment to
resolving the problems of society.”
 VI. THE COMMON DESTINATION OF
GOODS
• Every ecological approach needs to incorporate a social
perspective that takes into account the fundamental rights of the
poor and the underprivileged.

• The natural environment is a collective good. We break the

commandment “Thou shall not kill” means when “twenty percent
of the world’s population consumes resources at a rate that robs
the poor nations and future generations of what they need to
survive.”

VI. THE COMMON DESTINATION OF GOODS

• Jesus was able to invite others to be attentive to the beauty of

creation because he himself was in constant touch with nature.
 CHAPTER THREE
THE HUMAN ROOTS OF THE
ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
We have to accept that technological products are not neutral, for they
create a framework which ends up conditioning lifestyles and shaping
social possibilities along the lines dictated by the interests of certain
powerful groups”
1. TECHNOLOGY: CREATIVITY AND POWER
• The powerful influence of technology calls a need for “culture and
spirituality genuinely capable of setting limits and teaching clear-
minded self-restraint.”
2. THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE
TECHNOCRATIC PARADIGM
• It became an “epistemological paradigm” which shapes the lives of
individuals. We need to slow down to appropriate the positive
progress we made and recover the great values & goals swept away
by our delusions.
3. THE CRISIS AND EFFECTS OF MODERN
ANTHROPOCENTRISM
• Modern anthropocentrism prizes technical thought over reality by
seeing creation as mere raw material for our use.
 IV. INTEGRAL
ECOLOGY

R E P O R T E R : PA C O M A , A I R A A L E X I S P.
SECTION: 1S
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
I. Environmental, Economic and Social Ecology
“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.”
I. Environmental, Economic and Social Ecology
Why should we combat poverty and restore the dignity
to the excluded?

Why should we protect nature?

II. Cultural Ecology
“Historic, artistic and cultural patrimony is also under threat. There is a need to incorporate the
history, culture and architecture of each place to preserve its original identity. Culture is more than
what we have inherited from the past; it is also, and above all, a living, dynamic and participatory
present reality, which cannot be excluded as we rethink the relationship between human beings and
the environment.“
II. Cultural Ecology

“We are still hopeful that we will return to our ancestral lands. We hope that
other people, even those who are not Lumads, support us in defending our
land that means life to us.” (The Lumad’s resistance to destructive
“development” agendas imposed on their territories resulted in the
militarization and displacement of their communities.)
III. Ecology of Daily Life

“A wholesome social life can light up a seemingly undesirable environment.”

IV.The Principle of Common Good

“The common good is “the sum of those conditions of

social life which allow social groups and their individual
members relatively thorough and ready access to their
own fulfillment”.“
IV. Justice Between the Generations
“The world is a gift which we have freely received and
must share with others. “
LINES OF APPROACH AND ACT
 I. Dialogue on the environment in the
international community

 Interdependence obliges us to think of one world with a common plan.
 Problem: technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels –
coal, oil and gas – needs to be progressively replaced without delay.
 World Summits

 The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro
 It proclaimed that “human beings are at the centre of concerns for
sustainable development.”
 The Conference of the United Nations on Sustainable Development
 issued a wide-ranging but became ineffectual outcome document.
 II. Dialogue for new national and local
policies

 Questions related to the environment and economic development can
no longer be approached only from the standpoint of differences
between countries; they also call for greater attention to policies on the
national and local levels.
 III. Dialogue and transparency in decision-
making

 An assessment of the environmental impact of business ventures and
projects demands transparent political processes.
 Environmental impact assessment should not come after the drawing
up of a business proposition or the proposal of a particular policy, plan
or programme.
 IV. Politics and economy in dialogue for
human fulfillment

 Politics must not be subject to the economy, nor should the economy be
subject to the dictates of an efficiency-driven paradigm of technocracy.
 Environmental protection cannot be assured solely on the basis of
financial calculations of costs and benefits. The environment is one of
those goods that cannot be adequately safeguarded or promoted by
market forces”
 V. Religions in dialogue with science

 Dialogue among believers and Dialogue among the various sciences are
needed
 Problem: each can tend to become enclosed in its own language, while
specialization leads to a certain isolation and the absolutization of its
own field of knowledge.
 Solution: An open and respectful dialogue
Many things have to change course, but it is we human
beings above all who need to change. We lack an
awareness of our common origin, of our mutual
belonging, and of a future to be shared with everyone.
This basic awareness would enable the development of
new convictions, attitudes and forms of life. A great
cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before
us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of
renewal.
• Extreme consumerism and compulsive
consumerism is an example of how the “techno-
economic paradigm affects the awareness of
individuals.”
• Humans have the ability to change. A change in
our lifestyle could positively influence those who
“wield political, economic, and social power.
II. Educating for the Covenant between Humanity and
the Environment.

• If we want to bring about deep change, we need to

realize that certain mindset really do influence our
behaviour. Our efforts at education will be
inadequate and ineffectual unless we strive to
promote a new way of thinking about human
beings, life, society and our relationship with
nature.
 “The external deserts in the world are growing, because
the internal deserts have become so vast”. For this
reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to
profound interior conversion. It must be said that some
committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of
pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for
the environment.
Christian spirituality proposes an alternative standing of the
quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and
contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free
of the obsession of consumption
 Jesus reminded us that we have God as our common
Father and that makes us brothers and sisters. This
same gratuitousness inspires us to love and accept the
wind, the sun and the clouds, even though we cannot
control them. In this sense, we can speak of a
“universal fraternity”
 A framework built on love and care
 VI.Sacramental Signs and the Celebration of Rest
 “source of light and motivation”

 VII.The Trinity and the Relationship between creatures

 “global solidarity”

 VIII. Mary, Queen of All Creation

 IX. Beyond the Sun.