In this series we invite you to learn about the natural world and the ways in which we have been called to guard our earthly heritage. We shall start our journey with pope Francis’ encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, in which he expresses his concern for the state in which our planet has found itself. Each part of our journey will conclude with a question – consideration – which we are welcome to address in comments.
PART ONE
1. “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.[1]
2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.
Nothing in this world is indifferent to us
3. More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will”. Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.
4. In 1971, eight years after Pacem in Terris, Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological concern as “a tragic consequence” of unchecked human activity: “Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation”.[2] He spoke in similar terms to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations about the potential for an “ecological catastrophe under the effective explosion of industrial civilization”, and stressed “the urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity”, inasmuch as “the most extraordinary scientific advances, the most amazing technical abilities, the most astonishing economic growth, unless they are accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitively turn against man”.[3]
5. Saint John Paul II became increasingly concerned about this issue. In his first Encyclical he warned that human beings frequently seem “to see no other meaning in their natural environment than what serves for immediate use and consumption”.[4] Subsequently, he would call for a global ecological conversion.[5] At the same time, he noted that little effort had been made to “safeguard the moral conditions for an authentic human ecology”.[6] The destruction of the human environment is extremely serious, not only because God has entrusted the world to us men and women, but because human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement. Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in “lifestyles, models of production and consumption, and the established structures of power which today govern societies”.[7] Authentic human development has a moral character. It presumes full respect for the human person, but it must also be concerned for the world around us and “take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”.[8] Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is.[9]
Consideration: How do you understand the phrase “Ecological conversion”?
Vocabulary
Praise – pochwała
Canticle – kantyk
Remind – przypominać
Common – wspólny
Share – dzielic
Embrace – objąć
Sustain – utrzymywać
Govern – rządzić
Various – rozmaite
Herbs – zioła
Harm – krzywda
Inflict – zadać
Irresponsible – nieodpowiedzialny
Abuse – nadużycie
Endow – nadać, wyposażyć
Master – pan
Entitled – upoważniony
Plunder – plądrować
At will – wedle woli
Violence – przemoc
Wound – rana
Sin – grzech
Reflect – odzwierciedlać
Sickness – choroba
Evident – oczywisty, ewidentny
Soil – gleba
Burdened – obciążony
Laid waste – wyniszczony
Abandon – opuścić, porzucić
Maltreat – źle traktować
Groan – jęczeć
Travail – harówka
Dust – kurz
Element – pierwiastek
Breathe – oddychać
Receive – otrzymać
Refreshment – orzeźwienie
Indifferent – obojętny
Teeter – huśtać się
Brink – krawędź
Reject – odrzucić
Entire – cały
Indeed – doprawdy
Good will – dobra wola
Environment – środowisko
Environmental – środowiskowy
Deterioration – pogorszenie
Member – członek
Encourage – zachęcać
Ongoing – trwający
Renewal – odnowa
Blessed – błogosławiony
Refer – odnosić się
Ecological – ekologiczny
Concern – troska
Unchecked – niekontrolowany
Due to – z powodu
Ill-considered – źle pojęte
Exploitation – eksploatacja
Humanity – ludzkość
Destroy – niszczyć
Victim – ofiara
In turn – z kolei
Degradation – degradacja
Industrial – przemysłowy
Stress – podkreślać
Urgent – pilny
Conduct – zachowanie
Extraordinary – nadzwyczajny
Scientific – naukowy
Advances – postępy
Amazing – zdumiewający
Abilities – zdolności
Astonish – zdumieć
Economic – gospodarczy
Growth – wzrost
Accompany – towarzyszyć
Social – społeczny
Progres – postęp
Concerned – zatroskany
Issue – kwestia
Warn – ostrzegać
Being – byt, istnienie
Frequently – często
Serve – służyć
Immediate – natychmiastowy
Subsequently – w konsekwencji
Conversion – nawrócenie
Effort – wysiłek
Safeguard – chronic
Destruction – zniszczenie
Serious – poważny
Entrust – powierzyć
Defend – bronić
Debasement – upodlenie
Protect – chronić
Improve – ulepszyć, poprawić
Entail – piociągać za sobą
Profound – dogłębny
Established – ustanowiony
Power – władza
Socjety – społeczeństwo
Development – rozwój
Presume – zakładać z góry
Take into account – brać pod uwagę
Mutual – wzajemny
Connection – powiązanie
Ordered – uporządkowany
Transform – przemienić
Proceed – przebiegać