WHAT IS LAUDATO SI'?

  

 

Laudato Si' in Summary 

 

[See footnote below] Laudato Si’ is an encyclical letter written by Pope Francis and published in May 2015. Subtitled “Care for Our Common Home,” Laudato Si' focuses on care for the natural environment and all people, as well as broader questions of the relationship between God, humans, and the Earth.

(FYI, an encyclical is a public letter from the Pope developing Catholic teaching on a topic often in light of current events.)

 

 

It is divided into six chapters:

 

“Chapter One: What is Happening to Our Common Home” summarizes the scope of current problems related to the environment, including pollution, climate change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and global inequality.

 

“Chapter Two: The Gospel of Creation” draws on the Bible as a source of insight. The Genesis creation stories are interpreted as enjoining responsible cultivation and protection of nature. The natural world is further portrayed as a gift, a message, and a common inheritance of all people.

 

“Chapter Three: The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis” explores social trends and ideologies that have caused environmental problems. These include the unreflective use of technology, an impulse to manipulate and control nature, a view of humans as separate from the environment, narrowly-focused economic theories, and moral relativism.

 

“Chapter Four: Integral Ecology” presents the encyclical’s main solution to ongoing social and environmental problems. Integral ecology affirms that humans are part of a broader world and calls for “comprehensive solutions which consider the interactions within natural systems themselves and with social systems” (LS 139). While the study of ecosystems has become well-known in the science of ecology, integral ecology expands this paradigm to consider the ethical and spiritual dimensions of how humans are meant to relate to each other and the natural world – drawing on culture, family, community, virtue, religion, and respect for the common good.

 

“Chapter Five: Lines of Approach and Action” applies the concept of integral ecology to political life. It calls for international agreements to protect the environment and assist low-income countries, new national and local policies, inclusive and transparent decision-making, and an economy ordered to the good of all.

 

Lastly, “Chapter Six: Ecological Education and Spirituality” concludes the encyclical with applications to personal life. It recommends a lifestyle focused less on consumerism and more on timeless, enduring values. It calls for environmental education, joy in one’s surroundings, civic love, reception of the sacraments, and an “ecological conversion” in which an encounter with Jesus leads to deeper communion with God, other people, and the world of nature.

 

[The language above was taken largely from the Laudato Si' Movement website]

 

Helpful Resources:

Read the Actual Encyclical

 The Laudato Si' Action Platform

 Discussion Guide

The ADW's Laudato Si' Action Plan

To mark the 5th anniversary of Laudato Si’, Cardinal Gregory announced that the archdiocese will issue an archdiocesan Laudato Si’ Action Plan; and the Holy See’s Dicastery (Office) for Promoting Integral Human Development published a document that names seven ways to implement Laudato Si’. 
 
The Dicastery’s document serves as the framework for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington’s Laudato Si’ Action Plan.  Through this plan, we embrace the call of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ to work toward an integral ecology that is reflected in our personal lives and in our parishes and parish schools.
 
The 7 Markers of the Laudato Si' Action Plan are as follows:
 
1. Response to the Cry of the Earth: greater use of clean renewable energy and reduction of fossil fuels in order to achieve carbon neutrality efforts to protect and promote biodiversity guaranteeing access to clean water for all, etc.

2. Response to the Cry of the Poor: defense of human life from conception to death and all forms of life on Earth, with special attention to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, migrant children at risk through slavery, etc.
 
3. Ecological Economics: sustainable production, Fair-trade, ethical consumption, ethical investments, divestment from fossil fuels and any economic activity harmful to the planet and the people, investment in renewable energy, etc.

4. Adoption of Simple Lifestyle: sobriety [intense focus] in the use of resources and energy, avoid single-use plastic, adopt a more plant-based diet and reduce meat consumption, greater use of public transport and avoid polluting modes of transportation, etc.

5. Ecological Education: re-think and re-design educational curricula and educational institution reform in the spirit of integral ecology to create ecological awareness and action, promoting the ecological vocation of young people, teachers and leaders of education, etc.

6. Ecological Spirituality: recover a religious vision of God’s creation, encourage greater contact with the natural world in a spirit of wonder, praise, joy, and gratitude, promote creation-centered liturgical celebrations, develop catechesis prayer, retreats, formation, etc.

7. Emphasis on Community Involvement and Participatory Action: to care for creation at the local, regional, national and international levels (promote advocacy and people’s campaigns, encourage rootedness in local territory and neighborhood ecosystems, etc.)

 

Learn more about how the ADW is responding to Laudato Si'

ADW Laudato Si' Action Plan

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