Pope Francis employs powerful words to articulate his concern regarding anthropogenic climate change. He calls for immediate action from those in positions of authority, within communities, nations, and the international community of states. Sharing these concerns, both as a Catholic and a scientist (albeit not a climate science expert), I am committed to more than worry and complaint. Consequently, I suggest approaching “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”, LD) with the perspective of personal learning, to enhance our reverence for and care of Creation, and to take responsibility for our environment.
Reading in context
On 04 October 2023, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis, in his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum (“Praise God”, LD), urgently reminds us that we are too slow to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change, one of the environmental aspects of our responsibility for “our common home.” You might wonder why the Pope is addressing what might seem like a secular concern, such as climate science, ecology, and strategies for mitigating the undesirable consequences of a warming planet. To fully grasp the context, it’s essential to view “Laudate Deum” as a sequel or, more accurately, as an addendum to Laudato Si (LS).
Laudato Si is an encyclical – a document of higher authority than Laudate Deum, – and delves into the theology of creation and addresses a spectrum of ecological challenges: pollution, waste, climate change, rising carbon dioxide levels, scarcity of water for an increasing global population, and the loss of biodiversity. Back in 2015, Pope Francis said that the responses to these challenges have been inadequate, stating:
Continue reading“These situations have caused sister earth, along with all the abandoned of our world, to cry out, pleading that we take another course. Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness.”
Pope Francis, LS 53
Science meets Faith 