Pope’s Green Blueprint

by Editor · June 24, 2015

Like the saint of Assisi whose name he adopted upon his pontifical election in 2013, Pope Francis uses his platform to speak truth to power.

“His verdict is devastating to those who place profit and comforts above the wellbeing of the earth “

His first completely own encyclical�2013�s Lumen Fidei was almost all Pope Benedict XVI�s work � draws from St Francis the title Laudato Si, which is the medieval Italian form�for the phrase �Be Praised�, used by the saint in his famous �Canticle of the Creatures�.

In choosing the title, Pope Francis immediately ascribes ownership of the earth to God, not the humans who dwell on it.

The encyclical reiterates the Catholic teaching that humans have only stewardship over the earth which is God�s. Therefore anything that harms it is acting against God.

God�s creation, the title implies, should be praised � not raped.

In the encyclical, Pope Francis attacks the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has placed on earth.

�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,� Pope Francis writes.

The non-Latin title also indicates that this encyclical is addressed not only to Catholics but to �every person living on this planet�. And Pope Francis takes particular aim at those who place profits above stewardship.

Quoting Pope Paul VI, he says: �Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying [the earth] and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation.�

Most notably, the pope cuts through the self-interested blather of climate change deniers. Expressing the scientific consensus, he acknowledges that climate change is mostly due to human activity, especially �the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system�.

The pope calls for a radical change in behaviour, by consumers and especially by industry and governments.

The industrial degradation of the earth harms above all the poor, as several popes, going back to John XXIII, already noted long before Pope Francis.

The day before he released the encyclical, the pope told a general audience: �Our �house� is being ruined, and that hurts everyone � especially the poorest among us.�

He calls for urgent action to develop policies to reduce greenhouse gases, including substituting fossil fuels and developing renewable energy sources. The technology for this exists, but not the political will.

Who will tell big industry and their henchmen in the corridors of political power that their greed for profit must be subordinated to the welfare of all?

In December the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris will discuss a global agreement to decrease greenhouse gas emissions � a decrease that must significantly beat current (largely unkept) pledges if we are to avert the worst effects of climate change.

Before that, in September, the pope will address the UN and the US Congress; climate change will doubtless feature strongly in both addresses.

He will speak truth to power, as he does in Laudato Si: �The myopia of power politics delays the inclusion of a far-sighted environmental agenda within the overall agenda of governments.�

Vested interests clearly regard the pope�s message to be powerful. For months before the release of Laudato Si, the encyclical and Pope Francis himself were subjected to attack by those who stand to lose from ecological responsibility and by their mouthpieces � even within Catholic circles.

An Italian conservative website went so far as to publish a leaked draft version, allegedly in a bid to undermine the effect of the encyclical when it was released.

These vested interests fear the impact of the pope�s clear and forthright words, which are backed by centuries of Catholic teaching and an abundant body of scientific inquest.

Pope Francis has no material or ideological self-interest to declare in the question of climate change. His verdict is devastating to those who place profit and comforts above the wellbeing of the earth on which our descendants must live.

With Laudato Si the pope has given Catholics, and all who are concerned about ecological degradation, a blueprint for articulating the defence of our earth.

Now we must use it.