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Laudato Si’

�Laudato Si’ - an Encyclical �

An encyclical or teaching document, is a letter that the Pope circulates to the Church

• Laudato Si’ was released in June 2015
• it is a Catholic Social Teaching letter
• a ‘social’ encyclical means it applies traditional, moral teachings of the Church to the social and economic challenges of the current times

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��Laudato Si’, mi Signore��

The Encyclical takes its name from St. Francis’ prayer: ‘Canticle of the Creatures’

‘Laudato si’, mi Signore

cum tucte le Tue creature’

“Praise be to you, my Lord

through all your creatures”

Laudato Si’ is subtitled: “On Care for Our Common Home”

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�Laudato Si’ - to Everybody�

Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si’ –

• is addressed to “every person on this planet” (LS 3)
• reminds us that all people on earth make up a single human family

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Laudato Si’ is concerned with the ongoing ecological catastrophic exploitation of nature and the world around us – our common home.

Pope Francis, ‘drawing on the results of the best scientific research available today’, discusses:

• the exploitation and fragility of the planet
• the conviction that everything in the world is connected
• the effects of environmental degradation on the lives of the world’s poorest
• the destruction of biodiversity
• the throwaway culture
• the proposal of a new lifestyle

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Laudato Si’ - Ecology

The Gospel of Creation

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Gen 2:15

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The Stewardship model

The earth is not for our domination, but for us to take care of.

We too are creatures from the Creator.

We must ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations. (LS 67)

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� The Stewardship Model �

• A relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature (LS 67)
• We have a responsibility to care for the environment and everything in it (LS 67)
• Earth belongs to God and is on loan to us (LS 67)
• We must respect the laws of nature (LS 68)
• Other living beings have a value in their own and God’s eyes…and glorify God by their mere existence (LS 69)

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The Earth belongs to God and is on loan to us

• St Francis of Assisi with ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon...’ had a deep understanding of our interconnection as family members to all other created beings and inanimate elements
• The challenge: to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development to resolve the effects of environmental degradation on peoples’ lives – especially the poor (LS 13)

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World’s Worst Killer?

What do you think is the world’s worst killer today? Do you think -

• war
• hunger
• violence
• natural disasters
• cancer
• disease – Aids, malaria, tuberculosis? Discuss

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This question will be considered again in a later slide.

�What is Happening to our Common Home?�

Chapter 1 deals with global problems:

• pollution and climate change
• the issue of water
• the loss of biodiversity
• the decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of society

Global inequality

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Pollution - Noxious Gases

Pollution by noxious gases:

fossil fuels, transport, insecticides, fertilisers, industrial fumes

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��Pollution – ‘The Planet’s Dirty Killer’�Headline from article in NZ Herald 21/10/17��

Environmental pollution (NZ Herald 21/10/17)

• filthy air and contaminated water is killing more people on earth than all war and violence in the world
• One in every six premature deaths in the world in 2015 – upwards of 9 million – was attributed to disease from toxic exposure (The Lancet, 2017)
• Asian/Indian regions have most people at risk - one in every four premature deaths (NZ Herald 21/10/17)

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‘The Planet’s Dirty Killer’ (NZ Herald, cont.)

Poor countries:

• have yet to set up air pollution monitoring systems
• policies developing the economy takes priority over health
• control regulations are weaker
• technology is outdated
• dirty fossil fuel is used

Financial cost from pollution-related death, sickness and welfare is US$4.6 trillion (NZ$6.58t) in annual global losses which is 6.2 per cent of the global economy.

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World’s Worst Killer?

What do you think is the world’s worst killer today?

• war X
• hunger X
• violence X
• natural disasters X
• cancer X
• disease – Aids, malaria, tuberculosis X

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Pollution

Fossil Fuels

• coal, oil and natural gas are called ‘fossil fuels’ because they are found in the earth and were formed over millions of years from the remains of dead organisms
• coal was formed from dead plant material such as trees
• oil and gas were formed by marine organisms
• when burned, the emissions from them harm the environment, producing greenhouse gases
• these cause harm to the ozone layer

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Pollution - climate

The climate is a common good belonging to all and meant for all (LS 23)

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Greenhouse gases, mainly as a result of fossil fuel burning, don’t allow the warmth from the sun’s rays to be dispersed in space (LS 23)

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Effects of Pollution

Greenhouse gases cause:

• melting polar caps
• rise in sea levels
• shrinking water supplies
• droughts
• frequency and strength of fires and storms
• flooding and destruction (LS 23, 24)

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Greenhouse Gases

The worst impact is felt by developing countries, small islands and coastal areas.

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Abaiang, an island in Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. The sea is now where these people’s homes used to be.

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Pollution - Poverty

The poorest communities are the most often exposed to pollution.

Sick people can’t contribute to the economy but need to be looked after, costing the country more.

‘The relationship between pollution and poverty is very clear.’ Ernesto Sanchez Triana, environmental specialist, World Bank.

‘Reducing pollution in all forms would now be a global priority’. World Bank (NZ Herald 21/10/17)

The United Nations hosted its first ever conference on pollution in December, 2017

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What can we do?

• be energy efficient – switch off lights and electronics when not in use
• walk or ride a bike instead of taking a car
• OR - car pool or use public transport
• buy locally grown food
• compost food waste (landfills produce methane gas)
• plant vegetation and trees - these help to remove greenhouse gases

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Pollution - Rubbish

Rubbish – millions of tons of waste, highly toxic and non-biodegradable wastes, plastics, industrial waste

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Our Common Home

‘The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like a pile of filth’ (LS 21)

‘These problems are linked to a throwaway culture’ (LS 22)

Discuss: re-use, recycle, restore, replace, reduce, refuse

What do I do, what do I need to do?

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Reduce Pollution

• Re-use – can I make use of this product again?
• Recycle – can it be converted into another product or can someone else make use of this?
• Restore – can I update this product instead of buying a newer one?
• Reduce – do I need to buy more ‘stuff’?
• Refuse – how many plastic bags, cups, lids, drink bottles, straws, toys, cartons etc. am I using??? Say ‘NO’ to Plastic!

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� The Issue of Water�

Fresh drinking water – in many places demand exceeds the sustainable supply (LS 28- 29)

• In Africa large sectors of the population have no access to safe drinking water
• The unsafe quality of water available to the poor results in many deaths
• Inadequate hygiene causes cholera and dysentery
• Mining, farming, industrial/domestic chemical products pollute rivers, lakes and seas
• Safe, drinkable water - a basic human right

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Water – a basic human right

In many poor countries the task of collecting water falls mainly to women and girls.

Many girls cannot attend school because the walk to the source of their water is a long distance away and takes hours each day.

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NZ Water Pollution

Many NZ rivers, lakes and beaches are polluted and unsuitable for swimming:

• run-offs from fields, roads
• discharges from industries
• burst/flooded domestic sewerage ……………..ETC….
• everything that goes down the drain ……………..

all end up in the river/sea

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Sea Pollution

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How bad is it?

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Ocean Life

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Oceans contain: (LS 40)

• most of our planet’s water supply
• an immense variety of living creatures
• most of them are still unknown to us

Marine life, which feeds a great part of the world population, is affected by pollution and uncontrolled fishing, endangering sea life.

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Dead orca with stomach full of trash

Pollution of the Oceans

• There are many kinds of pollution in the oceans and seas:
• rubbish, chemicals, oil, sewage from toilets and….
• PLASTIC – birds, marine mammals, and fish are most affected by plastic in their diets
• this in turn affects all the other creatures that eat the birds and sea creatures – including US

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�Sea Pollution - how bad is it?�

• 60-90 percent of marine litter is plastic-based
• At least 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year
• 80% of ocean pollution is from land based sources
• There is more microplastic in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way
• Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement and ingestion
• Ocean pollution kills more than one million sea birds each year

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Trash Island in the Caribbean

Dumping trash into the Amazon

�Pollution of Water - what can we do?�

Don’t leave rubbish lying around on beaches or beside rivers and lakes

Don’t throw rubbish into the sea or into rivers or lakes

Organise or help in a beach clean up

Help to take care of a local stream

Make sure only rain water goes down the drain/toilet - most drains flow straight to the sea

Conserve water – turn off taps

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The Loss of Biodiversity

Each year thousands of plant and animal species disappear, becoming extinct due to human activity

The plight of endangered birds, animals and sea creatures may disturb us, but fungi, algae, worms, insects, reptiles and micro-organisms are all necessary for our ecosystem to function well

The cause is often due to economic interests and consumerism (LS 32)

Consider - the Amazon and Congo basins, deforestation, trading in animal parts, loss of species’ habitats

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A bewildered koala after deforestation

The Throwaway Culture

We are a disposable contemporary society updating:

• cars, phones, digital/electronic devices….every ‘latest and greatest’
• ‘me in the moment’ for maximum pleasure with no thought to future generations
• global inequality – the minority live extravagantly, the majority in great poverty
• the decision-makers are most often far removed from the poor, who are at the bottom of the pile (LS 49)
• the cry of the earth echoes the cry of the poor

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The ‘Me’ Culture

Practical Relativism – sees all as irrelevant unless it serves one’s own immediate interests, leading to one person taking advantage of another (LS 123)

On the grand scale this becomes:

human trafficking, drug trafficking, blood diamonds, child soldiers, ivory/tiger skin trading, forced labour, exploitation of the elderly and children, organised crime, greedy economies

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Decline in the Quality of Human Life

• When a culture is corrupt, and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer held, laws are seen to be impositions or obstacles to be avoided. (LS 123)
• We know that countries which have clear legislation about the protection of forests and animals continue to keep silent as they watch laws repeatedly being broken (LS 142)

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Principle of the Common Good (LS 156)

Underlining the principle of the common good is:

• respect for each human person, who is endowed with basic inalienable rights (LS 153)
• an appreciation of the immense dignity of the poorest of our brothers and sisters (LS 158)
• ensuring attainable housing for all, giving people a sense of personal dignity and family wellbeing (LS 152)
• giving priority to public transport (LS 153)
• an awareness of what we are leaving for future generations

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Things must change (LS 202-227)

Consumerism – Christian tradition calls to

ecological conversion

• simplify our lifestyles, move away from ‘buy more’
• be mindful on all purchasing – consider how our buying impacts on other people and things
• be content with the necessities of life
• be present to the moment – music, art, beauty, in tune with God
• be aware that ‘the cry of the poor’ is not just from the human family

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A New Solidarity

• Time to act as individuals and communities
• Political action - Catholic Christians of good will are called to do something
• Need to prioritise on a local level
• There needs to be dialogue and transparency in decision making
• Political and economic transparency to eradicate corruption

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All it takes…..

• All it takes is for one good person to restore hope (LS 71)
• Whenever food is thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor (LS 50)
• Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity’ (LS 92)
• It is essential to show special care for indigenous communities and their cultural traditions (LS 146)
• Practise St. Thérèse’s little way of love – a kind word, smile or small gesture which sows peace and friendship (LS 230)

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All it takes…..

• The environment is on loan to each generation which must then hand it on to the next (LS 159)
• Interdependence obliges us to think of one world with a common plan (LS 164)
• A global consensus is essential for confronting the deeper problems which cannot be resolved by actions of individual countries (LS 164)

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All it takes…..

….is for one good person to restore hope………

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What can I do to restore hope?

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