ANDY HAMILTON SJ writes that Laudato Si’, with its compelling call to care for the Earth and all who inhabit it, captures the essence of the Christian spirit: “At the heart of Christian faith and the Gospel is a God who loves the world, treasures it for its beauty and delicacy, and entrusts it to us to care for and to delight in.” As we mark ten years since Laudato Si’, let us recommit to its call and work together toward a more just, compassionate, and sustainable world.
This year of Pope Francis’ death also marks the tenth anniversary of his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ in which he highlighted the threat to the world posed by climate change, its effect on people and especially the poorest in our world, and the need for concerted action. He addressed his Encyclical to all people of goodwill and advocated for action to curb climate change in the United Nations and elsewhere. He called people to respect the environment in their personal living, transport and recreation, and to press for action by their governments to limit emissions.
For Pope Francis, care for the environment was not only the business of economics or politics; like our respect for human life, he saw it as a religious as well as a civic duty. It responded to God’s invitation to shape a world in which people can flourish and take delight, a place of prayer as well as of work. People with other philosophies will find different grounds for it, but Pope Francis is surely right in insisting that care for the environment must become part of all our personal, family, working and political lives and relationships. It is bound into all our other relationships.
Pope Francis also insisted on the relationship between care for the environment and social justice. Gross inequality and war degrade both human beings and the environment. At Jesuit Social Services our work for a more just world involves attention to the environment. Treeless housing estates without public transport, for example, are detrimental to health and the spirit. They breed other forms of disadvantage.
Ten years after Laudato Si’, much has been done to reduce emissions and to plan for the future. But many governments are abandoning commitments to reduce emissions and to limit the use and sale of fossil fuels. Some deny the reality of climate change. Both large corporations and governments act out of self-interest. This selfish attitude will diminish the lives of our grandchildren and affect particularly people who are poor.
At the heart of Christian faith and the Gospel is a God who loves the world, treasures it for its beauty and delicacy, and puts it into our hands to us to care for and to take delight in.
