Pope Francis is writing a second part to <em>Laudato Si’</em> – his landmark papal encyclical on the environment – to address weather catastrophes such as extreme heat waves, floods and wildfires.
The Holy Father revealed that an extended version of the 2015 encyclical on the “the care of our common home” was in the pipeline during off-the-cuff remarks made to a group of lawyers from member countries of the Council of Europe.
He told the lawyers that he would update the teachings in <em>Laudato Si’</em> to reflect “current issues”, before thanking them for their work in developing an international legal framework to protect the environment.
Francis said: “We must never forget that the younger generations have the right to receive a beautiful and liveable world from us, and that this implies that we have a grave responsibility towards creation which we have received from the generous hands of God. Thank you for your contribution.”
Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See press office, later confirmed that the new updated version of <em>Laudato Si’</em> will focus in particular “on the most recent extreme weather events and catastrophes affecting people across five continents”, according to Vatican News.
Respect and care of the environment is included in the <em>Catechism of the Catholic Church</em> and has also formed part of the Catholic social teaching of such recent popes as St John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
<em>Laudato Si’</em>, the second encyclical of Francis’s pontificate, deals primarily and explicitly with the duty of mankind to for creation, and draws on the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi, after whom the Pope is named.
Pope Francis argued that the propensity of humanity to harm and destroy was a defect rooted in Original Sin.
Under his theological analysis he proposed that it is the intention of the Creator that Man, in his original innocence, was in harmony with nature, rather than acting against it, and through grace, through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the relationship intended by God from the beginning can be restored.
The emphasis was on conservation, good stewardship, the prudent use of the earth’s resources and personal conversion at a time when vast tracts of forests are cleared every day and an estimated eight million tons of plastics are dumped into oceans every year.
It came also as many industrialised countries continue to lose much of their fauna and flora, with the State of Wildlife reports claiming that Britain has lost so much biodiversity in recent decades that it is now one of the most “nature-depleted” countries in the world.
Since 1970 a majority of British species has declined in every class of habitat and of 8,000 species assessed using modern “red list” criteria, to determine if they are flourishing, some 15 per cent are now either extinct or are threatened with extinction.
In <em>Laudato Si’</em>, Pope Francis noted the value of local efforts at conservation and noted that St Francis of Assisi “asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty”.
He wrote: “In some countries, there are positive examples of environmental improvement: rivers, polluted for decades, have been cleaned up; native woodlands have been restored; landscapes have been beautified thanks to environmental renewal projects; beautiful buildings have been erected; advances have been made in the production of non-polluting energy and in the improvement of public transportation.”
“These achievements do not solve global problems, but they do show that men and women are still capable of intervening positively,” the Pontiff continued.
“For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity and care cannot but well up within us, since we were made for love.”
Francis also warned the world against the continued perils of “short-sighted approaches to the economy, commerce and production” and said the problems associated with them required an urgent solution.
He proposed a “cultural revolution” to counter a “weak response” to the real danger that the world might be “leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth”.
<em>(Pope Francis in Portugal for World Youth Day 2023 | Getty)</em>
Pope Francis is writing a second part to <em>Laudato Si’</em> – his landmark papal encyclical on the environment – to address weather catastrophes such as extreme heat waves, floods and wildfires.
The Holy Father revealed that an extended version of the 2015 encyclical on the “the care of our common home” was in the pipeline during off-the-cuff remarks made to a group of lawyers from member countries of the Council of Europe.
He told the lawyers that he would update the teachings in <em>Laudato Si’</em> to reflect “current issues”, before thanking them for their work in developing an international legal framework to protect the environment.
Francis said: “We must never forget that the younger generations have the right to receive a beautiful and liveable world from us, and that this implies that we have a grave responsibility towards creation which we have received from the generous hands of God. Thank you for your contribution.”
Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See press office, later confirmed that the new updated version of <em>Laudato Si’</em> will focus in particular “on the most recent extreme weather events and catastrophes affecting people across five continents”, according to Vatican News.
Respect and care of the environment is included in the <em>Catechism of the Catholic Church</em> and has also formed part of the Catholic social teaching of such recent popes as St John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
<em>Laudato Si’</em>, the second encyclical of Francis’s pontificate, deals primarily and explicitly with the duty of mankind to for creation, and draws on the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi, after whom the Pope is named.
Pope Francis argued that the propensity of humanity to harm and destroy was a defect rooted in Original Sin.
Under his theological analysis he proposed that it is the intention of the Creator that Man, in his original innocence, was in harmony with nature, rather than acting against it, and through grace, through the merits of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the relationship intended by God from the beginning can be restored.
The emphasis was on conservation, good stewardship, the prudent use of the earth’s resources and personal conversion at a time when vast tracts of forests are cleared every day and an estimated eight million tons of plastics are dumped into oceans every year.
It came also as many industrialised countries continue to lose much of their fauna and flora, with the State of Wildlife reports claiming that Britain has lost so much biodiversity in recent decades that it is now one of the most “nature-depleted” countries in the world.
Since 1970 a majority of British species has declined in every class of habitat and of 8,000 species assessed using modern “red list” criteria, to determine if they are flourishing, some 15 per cent are now either extinct or are threatened with extinction.
In <em>Laudato Si’</em>, Pope Francis noted the value of local efforts at conservation and noted that St Francis of Assisi “asked that part of the friary garden always be left untouched, so that wild flowers and herbs could grow there, and those who saw them could raise their minds to God, the Creator of such beauty”.
He wrote: “In some countries, there are positive examples of environmental improvement: rivers, polluted for decades, have been cleaned up; native woodlands have been restored; landscapes have been beautified thanks to environmental renewal projects; beautiful buildings have been erected; advances have been made in the production of non-polluting energy and in the improvement of public transportation.”
“These achievements do not solve global problems, but they do show that men and women are still capable of intervening positively,” the Pontiff continued.
“For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity and care cannot but well up within us, since we were made for love.”
Francis also warned the world against the continued perils of “short-sighted approaches to the economy, commerce and production” and said the problems associated with them required an urgent solution.
He proposed a “cultural revolution” to counter a “weak response” to the real danger that the world might be “leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth”.
<em>(Pope Francis in Portugal for World Youth Day 2023 | Getty)</em>
