Click here for the text of Laudato Si’

In summary Popes Francis sees that Revelation and Creation is respecting and sharing God’s gift. The theory that gives man total domination over creation Francis rejects. The whole of the Bible is filled with reflections on the relationship between God and nature, and the role of humans in the world. “there has  been a  distorted interpretation of Genesis !:28 during the 19^th century to promote the industrial revolution and its desire to use the earth as malleable clay that man could pound and shape into whatever he wants. “Today we must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.”

Pope Francis reflection onon Genesis leads him to see that 2human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely entertwined  relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself.” These relationships are ruptured by sin, by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. Francis affirms that the world did not result from chaos or chance but “as the result of a decision… a free choice 2based on love, “ Every creature is thus the object of the Father’s tenderness, who gives it a place in the world,”and God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things. “As a result,”every act of cruelty toward any creature is contrary to human dignity.     Later in his encyclical he writes: “If presents trends continue, this century may well witness extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us.” Francis continues: “Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. We may well be leaving to coming generation debris, desolation and filth. The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes.”

Francis  saves his harshest words for economic interests who “accept every advance in technology with a view to profit, without concern for its potentially negative impact on human beings.” They show “ no interest in more balanced levels of production, a better distribution of wealth, concern for the environment and the rights of future generations. Their behaviour shows that for them maximizing profits is enough. Once the human being declares independence from reality and behaves with absolute dominion, the very foundations of our life crumble. Rather than beign a co-operator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature.”  Everything is connected. Pope Francis states Peace, Justice, and the Preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes, which cannot be eperated and treated individually without once again falling into reductionism. Everything is related. We are all called to be faithful to our God who created the world for everyone.

Finally Francis concludes with his biblical vision that “The world is a gift we have freely received and must share with others. The world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us or as the Portuguese bishops said and I quote: “the environment is on loan to each generation, which must then hand it on to the next” Francis concludes with a challenging question:  “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who will come after us, to children who are now growing up.”

Plenty to reflect, to discuss, to pray about. Above all let each one of us play our part in being responsible for caring for the earth, in acting justly and walking humbly with our God.