by Barbara J. Fraser, Catholic News Service and Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic
Bishop Michael Mulvey holds press conference to discuss Pope Francis’ encyclical letter “Laudato Si, On Care of Our Common Home.” Ben Nguyen, canonical counsel and theological advisor to the bishop, provided reporters with background information on the encyclical.
Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic
Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology and climate sent a strong moral message–a message that could make some readers uncomfortable, some observers say.
“The pope wisely speaks of ‘integral ecology’, which links the care for others with care for God’s creation,” Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi said.
“Integral ecology involves two things: human ecology–protecting human life from conception to natural death and natural ecology–caring for the gifts of God’s creation because it is the place where his family dwells.”
The encyclical, published June 18, is titled “Laudato Si: On the Care of Our Common Home,” which translates “praised be,” the first words of St. Francis’ “Canticle of the Creatures.”
The encyclical is not a theological treatise or a technical document about environmental issues, but a pastoral call to change the way people use the planet’s resources so they are sufficient not only for current needs, but for future generations, observers say.
“It is important to note that the pope in this encyclical letter is speaking in his role as pastor of the universal Church, offering moral guidance and teaching” Bishop Mulvey said. “He is not making policy proposals but rather giving us well-grounded principles to be kept in mind as we work together in caring for each other and being good stewards of God’s creation.”
The pontiff probably foreshadowed the encyclical during his first public Mass as pope on March 19, 2013, when he said in his homily, “Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.”
Although the document was published in the wake of a seminar on climate change in April at the Vatican, it is not limited to that issue and focuses on the relationship between people and their environment.
A month after the encyclical’s publication, global representatives will meet at a conference on financing for development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In September, the pope will address the United Nations at a session that is likely to see the approval of a new set of global development objectives, the Sustainable Development Goals, which include environmental criteria.
And in December, negotiators and world leaders will converge on Paris to finish hammering out a treaty aimed at reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.
Some politicians have already questioned the pope’s credentials for wading into the issue of climate change, but that is only one of several environmental problems the pope addresses, Bishop Mulvey said.
Every pope, since Blessed Paul VI, has written and spoken on the Church’s teaching on ecology. Pope Francis has on a number of occasions in his brief papacy spoken on this issue on such topics as integral ecology, care of creation, climate change, the throw away culture and a call to build a culture of solidarity and encounter.
“It is my hope that this encyclical letter…can help us to acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face,” Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si. “I urgently appeal, then for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.”
The Holy Father calls for an “honest debate” among experts at the same time respecting different views. He strongly urges to avoid extreme views, from either side of the climate change debate.
But, he said, “We need only to take a frank look at the facts to see that our common home is falling into serious disrepair.”
“Each of us will be challenged as we read this and reflect on it,” Bishop Mulvey said, adding it is a very comprehensive document, touching many aspects of life. “This is not a letter to be read and set aside, it needs to be read and reread.”