[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION LAUDATE DEUM OF POPE FRANCIS FRANCIS TO ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS

[Bill Wright]

I too agree with Mary-Lou.  Thk you, Dean.
Bill.

c 416-708-6677


On Thu, Oct 5, 2023 at 3:01 PM Catherine Walther via Sundaycommunity <
sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:

I agree with Mary Lou. Thank you, Catherine
>
> On Thu, Oct 5, 2023 at 11:15 AM Mary Lou Jorgensen-Bacher via
> Sundaycommunity <sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>


> Thanks for sharing.  This is a real eye-opener for MOST people.  (50%
>> PLUS!)  Thank YOU for reading the Pope's message, and for allowing us to *REALLY
>> READ* about it.  (I do belong to the SIERRA CLUB, and I have been aware
>> of all of the  "THINGS"  that have been happening to the world around us,
>> but it was still  CHILLING!!!!!!!)  Thank you oh MYSTERY that we have
>> people like the Pope to help us in our "DECISIONS", as we go about our
>> DAY-TO-DAY lives.
>>
>> Keeper of the Flame
>>
>>
>> On Thursday, October 5, 2023 at 06:19:37 a.m. EDT, Randolph Haluza-DeLay
>> via Sundaycommunity <sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for posting this. Another important step in helping us as
>> believers and members of an institutional church toward ecological
>> conversion (hearing and responding to the cry of the earth and the cry if
>> the poor).
>>
>> Randy Haluza-DeLay
>> Albertan in Toronto. Social scientist, cyclist, & root beer lover.
>> Monthly column for Canadian Mennonite magazine, latest: "Thinking about
>> Leisure"
>> https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/thinking-about-leisure
>>
>> (Sent from teeny screen w thumbs-apologies for typing goofs!)
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 4, 2023, 12:33 Dean Riley via Sundaycommunity <
>> sundaycommunity at lists.integralshift.ca> wrote:
>>
>

> Pray that all will open their ears, hearts and minds….
>>
>> And that together in solidarity - we all be dedicated to preserving the
>> planet - and with it - all life in its marvellous variety!
>>
>> Blessings on all!
>>
>> Dean.
>>
>> [image: image0.jpeg]
>>
>> *APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION OF POPE FRANCIS*
>>
>> * 'LAUDATE DEUM'*
>>
>> *TO ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS*
>>
>> *“Laudate Deum”: the Pope’s cry for a response to the climate crisis*
>>
>> Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015
>> encyclical. We’re not reacting enough, he says, we’re close to breaking
>> point. He criticises climate change deniers, saying that the human origin
>> of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our
>> common home flows from the Christian faith.
>>
>> *Vatican News, October 4, 2023*
>>
>> “'Praise God' is the title of this letter.  For when human beings claim
>> to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies.” That’s how Pope
>> Francis ends his new Apostolic Exhortation
>> <https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html>,
>> published on the 4th October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi. It’s a
>> text in continuity with his 2015 encyclical *Laudato si’, *which is
>> broader in scope. In six chapters and 73 paragraphs, the Successor of Peter
>> tries to clarify and bring to completion that previous text on integral
>> ecology, while at the same time sounding an alarm, and a call for
>> co-responsibility, in the face of the climate emergency.
>>
>> In particular, the Exhortation looks ahead to COP28, which will be held
>> in Dubai between the end of November and beginning of December. The Holy
>> Father writes: “With the passage of time, I have realized that our
>> responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is
>> collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this
>> possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will
>> increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons” (2).
>>
>> It's “one of the principal challenges facing society and the global
>> community” and “the effects of climate change are borne by the most
>> vulnerable people, whether at home or around the world” (3).
>>
>> *Signs of climate change increasingly evident*
>>
>> The first chapter
>> <https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html> is
>> dedicated to the global climate crisis. “Despite all attempts to deny,
>> conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change
>> are here and increasingly evident,” says the Pope. He goes on to observe
>> that “in recent years we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent
>> periods of unusual heat, drought and other cries of protest on the part of
>> the earth”, a “silent disease that affects everyone.”
>>
>> Moreover, Pope Francis says, “it is verifiable that specific climate
>> changes provoked by humanity are notably heightening the probability of
>> extreme phenomena that are increasingly frequent and intense.”
>>
>> Now, the Holy Father explains, if global temperature increases by more
>> than two degrees, “the icecaps of Greenland and a large part of Antarctica
>> will melt completely, with immensely grave consequences for everyone” (5).
>>
>> Speaking of those who play down climate change, he responds: “what we are
>> presently experiencing is an unusual acceleration of warming, at such a
>> speed that it will take only one generation – not centuries or millennia –
>> in order to verify it.” “Probably in a few years many populations will have
>> to move their homes because of these facts” (6). Extreme colds, too, are
>> “alternative expressions of the same cause” (7).
>>
>> *Not the fault of the poor*
>>
>> “In an attempt to simplify reality,” Pope Francis writes, “there are
>> those who would place responsibility on the poor, since they have many
>> children, and even attempt to resolve the problem by mutilating women in
>> less developed countries.” “As usual, it would seem that everything is the
>> fault of the poor.  Yet the reality is that a low, richer percentage of the
>> planet contaminates more than the poorest 50% of the total world
>> population, and that per capita emissions of the richer countries are much
>> greater than those of the poorer ones.”
>>
>> “How can we forget that Africa, home to more than half of the world’s
>> poorest people, is responsible for a minimal portion of historic
>> emissions?” (9). The Pope also challenges of those who say efforts to
>> mitigate climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels “will lead to a
>> reduction in the number of jobs.”
>>
>> What is happening, in fact, is that “millions of people are losing their
>> jobs due to different effects of climate change: rising sea levels,
>> droughts and other phenomena affecting the planet have left many people
>> adrift.”
>>
>> At the same time, “the transition to renewable forms of energy, properly
>> managed” is capable of “generating countless jobs in different sectors.
>> This demands that politicians and business leaders should even now be
>> concerning themselves with it” (10).
>>
>> *Indubitable human origins*
>>
>> *“*It is no longer possible to doubt the human – ‘anthropic’ – origin of
>> climate change,” the Pope says. *“*The concentration of greenhouse gases
>> in the atmosphere … was stable until the nineteenth century … In the past
>> fifty years, this increase has accelerated significantly” (11).
>>
>> At the same time, global temperature “has risen at an unprecedented
>> speed, greater than any time over the past two thousand years.  In this
>> period, the trend was a warming of 0.15° C per decade, double that of the
>> last 150 years …  At this rate, it is possible that in just ten years we
>> will reach the recommended maximum global ceiling of 1.5° C” (12).
>>
>> This has resulted in acidification of the seas and the melting of
>> glaciers. “It is not possible to conceal” the correlation between these
>> events and the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, the Holy
>> Father bitterly observes, “the climate crisis is not exactly a matter that
>> interests the great economic powers, whose concern is with the greatest
>> profit possible at minimal cost and in the shortest amount of time” (13).
>>
>> *Barely in time to avoid more terrible damage*
>>
>> *“*I feel obliged,” continues Pope Francis, “to make these
>> clarifications, which may appear obvious, because of certain dismissive and
>> scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic
>> Church.” Yet, “we can no longer doubt that the reason for the unusual
>> rapidity of these dangerous changes is a fact that cannot be concealed: the
>> enormous novelties that have to do with unchecked human intervention on
>> nature in the past two centuries” (14).
>>
>> Unfortunately, some effects of this climate crisis are already
>> irreversible, for at least several hundred years, and “the melting of the
>> poles will not be able to be reversed for hundreds of years” (16).
>>
>> We are, then, barely in time to avoid even more terrible damage. The Pope
>> writes that “certain apocalyptic diagnoses may well appear scarcely
>> reasonable or insufficiently grounded”, but “we cannot state with
>> certainty” what is going to happen. (17).
>>
>> Therefore, “a broader perspective is urgently needed …  What is being
>> asked of us is nothing other than a certain responsibility for the legacy
>> we will leave behind, once we pass from this world” (18). Recalling the
>> experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis repeats that “Everything
>> is connected and no one is saved alone” (19).
>>
>> *The technocratic paradigm: the idea of a human being without limits*
>>
>> In the second chapter, the Pope speaks of the technocratic paradigm which
>> consists in thinking that “reality, goodness and truth automatically flow
>> from technological and economic power as such” (20) and “monstrously feeds
>> upon itself” (21), taking its inspiration from the idea of a human being
>> without limitations. “Never has humanity had such power over itself,” the
>> Holy Father continues, “yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely,
>> particularly when we consider how it is currently being used … It is
>> extremely risky for a small part of humanity to have it” (23).
>>
>> Unfortunately – as demonstrated, too, by the atomic bomb – “our immense
>> technological development has not been accompanied by a development in
>> human responsibility, values and conscience” (24). The Pope reaffirms that
>> “the world that surrounds us is not an object of exploitation, unbridled
>> use and unlimited ambition” (25). He reminds us that we, too, are part of
>> nature, and that this “excludes the idea that the human being is
>> extraneous, a foreign element capable only of harming the environment.
>> Human beings must be recognized as a part of nature” (26); “human groupings
>> have often ‘created’ an environment” (27).
>>
>> *The ethical decadence of power: marketing and fake news*
>>
>> We have made “impressive and awesome technological advances, and we have
>> not realized that at the same time we have turned into highly dangerous
>> beings, capable of threatening the lives of many beings and our own
>> survival” (28). “The ethical decadence of real power is disguised thanks to
>> marketing and false information, useful tools in the hands of those with
>> greater resources to employ them to shape public opinion.”
>>
>> Through these mechanisms, people in areas where polluting projects are to
>> be implemented are deceived, convinced that economic and employment
>> opportunities will be generated, but “they are not clearly told that the
>> project will result in … a desolate and less habitable landscape” (29) and
>> a clear decline in quality of life.
>>
>> “The mentality of maximum gain at minimal cost, disguised in terms of
>> reasonableness, progress and illusory promises, makes impossible any
>> sincere concern for our common home and any real preoccupation about
>> assisting the poor and the needy discarded by our society … astounded and
>> excited by the promises of any number of false prophets, the poor
>> themselves at times fall prey to the illusion of a world that is not being
>> built for them” (31). There exists, then, “rule by those born with greater
>> possibilities and advantages” (32). Pope Francis invites these individuals
>> to ask themselves, “with an eye to the children who will pay for the harm
>> done by their actions” (33), what the meaning of their life is.
>>
>> *Weak international politics*
>>
>> In the next chapter of the Exhortation, the pope addresses the weakness
>> of international politics, insisting on the need to foster “multilateral
>> agreements between States” (34). He explains that “when we talk about the
>> possibility of some form of world authority regulated by law, we need not
>> necessarily think of a personal authority” but of “more effective world
>> organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common
>> good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defence of
>> fundamental human rights”.
>>
>> These, he says, “must be endowed with real authority, in such a way as to
>> provide for the attainment of certain essential goals” (35). Pope Francis
>> deplores that “global crises are being squandered when they could be the
>> occasions to bring about beneficial changes. This is what happened in the
>> 2007-2008 financial crisis and again in the Covid-19 crisis”, which led to
>> “greater individualism, less integration and increased freedom for the
>> truly powerful, who always find a way to escape unscathed” (36).
>>
>> “More than saving the old multilateralism, it appears that the current
>> challenge is to reconfigure and recreate it, taking into account the new
>> world situation” (37),  recognising that many civil society aggregations
>> and organizations help compensate for the weaknesses of the international
>> community. The Pope cites the Ottawa process on landmines, which, he says,
>> shows how civil society creates efficient dynamics that the UN does not
>> achieve.
>>
>> *Useless institutions that preserve the strongest*
>>
>> What Pope Francis is proposing is a “multilateralism ‘from below’ and not
>> simply one determined by the elites of power …  It is to be hoped that this
>> will happen with respect to the climate crisis.  For this reason, I
>> reiterate that “unless citizens control political power – national,
>> regional and municipal – it will not be possible to control damage to the
>> environment” (38). After reaffirming the primacy of the human person, Pope
>> Francis explains – speaking of the defense of human dignity in all
>> circumstances – that “It is not a matter of replacing politics, but of
>> recognizing that the emerging forces are becoming increasingly relevant”.
>>
>>
>> “The very fact,” he says, “that answers to problems can come from any
>> country, however little, ends up presenting multilateralism as an
>> inevitable process” (40).
>>
>> Therefore, “a different framework for effective cooperation is required.
>> It is not enough to think only of balances of power but also of the need to
>> provide a response to new problems and to react with global mechanisms”; it
>> is a matter of “establishing global and effective rules” (42).
>>
>> “All this presupposes the development of a new procedure for
>> decision-making”; what is required are “spaces for conversation,
>> consultation, arbitration, conflict resolution and supervision, and, in the
>> end, a sort of increased “democratization” in the global context, so that
>> the various situations can be expressed and included.  It is no longer
>> helpful for us to support institutions in order to preserve the rights of
>> the more powerful without caring for those of all” (43).
>>
>> *Climate conferences*
>>
>> In the following chapter, Francis describes the various climate
>> conferences held to date. He recalls the one in Paris, the agreement
>> resulting from which came into effect in November 2016. Although “a binding
>> agreement, not all its dispositions are obligations in the strict sense,
>> and some of them leave ample room for discretion” (47). Moreover, there are
>> no sanctions for failure to meet obligations, and there is a lack of
>> effective tools to enforce the agreement, as well as no real sanctions, and
>> no effective tools to ensure compliance. Additionally, “work is still under
>> way to consolidate concrete procedures for monitoring and to facilitate
>> general criteria for comparing the objectives of the different countries”
>> (48).
>>
>> The Pope mentions his disappointment with the Madrid COP and recalls that
>> the Glasgow COP revived the Paris goals, with many “recommendations”, but
>> “proposals tending to ensure a rapid and effective transition to
>> alternative and less polluting forms of energy made no progress” (49).
>>
>> COP27, held in Egypt in 2022, was “one more example of the difficulty of
>> negotiations”, and even though it “marked a step forward in consolidating a
>> system for financing ‘loss and damage’ in countries most affected by
>> climate disasters”, this remained “imprecise” (51) on many points.
>> International negotations, the Pope concludes, “cannot make significant
>> progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national
>> interests above the global common good.  Those who will have to suffer the
>> consequences of what we are trying to hide will not forget this failure of
>> conscience and responsibility” (52).
>>
>> *What to expect from the Dubai COP?*
>>
>> Looking ahead to COP, Pope Francis writes that “to say that there is
>> nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all
>> humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change”
>> (53). We must, says the Pope, “keep hoping that COP28 will allow for a
>> decisive acceleration of energy transition, with effective commitments
>> subject to ongoing monitoring.  This Conference can represent a change of
>> direction” (54).
>>
>> The Holy Father observes that “the necessary transition towards clean
>> energy sources such as wind and solar energy, and the abandonment of fossil
>> fuels, is not progressing at the necessary speed.  Consequently, whatever
>> is being done risks being seen only as a ploy to distract attention” (55).
>> We cannot search merely for a technological solution to our problems: “we
>> risk remaining trapped in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks,
>> while beneath the surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we
>> continue to contribute” (57).
>>
>> *No more ridiculing of environmental questions*
>>
>> Pope Francis asks us to put an end to “the irresponsible derision that
>> would present this issue as something purely ecological, “green”, romantic,
>> frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests.” “Let us finally
>> admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels.  For
>> this reason, it calls for involvement on the part of all.”
>>
>> On the subject of protests by groups “negatively portrayed as
>> radicalized”, Pope Francis affirms that “in reality they are filling a
>> space left empty by society as a whole, which ought to exercise a healthy
>> “pressure”, since every family ought to realize that the future of their
>> children is at stake” (58).
>>
>> “May those taking part in the Conference be strategists capable of
>> considering the common good and the future of their children, more than the
>> short-term interests of certain countries or businesses.  In this way, may
>> they demonstrate the nobility of politics and not its shame.  To the
>> powerful, I can only repeat this question: “What would induce anyone, at
>> this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability
>> to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?” (60).
>>
>> *A commitment that flows from the Christian faith*
>>
>> Finally, the Pope reminds his readers that the motivations for this
>> commitment flow from the Christian faith, encouraging “my brothers and
>> sisters of other religions to do the same” (61). “The Judaeo-Christian
>> vision of the cosmos defends the unique and central value of the human
>> being amid the marvellous concert of all God’s creatures,” but “as part of
>> the universe, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind
>> of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred,
>> affectionate and humble respect” (67).
>>
>> “This is not a product of our own will; its origin lies elsewhere, in the
>> depths of our being, since God has joined us so closely to the world around
>> us” (68). What is important, Pope Francis writes, is to remember that
>> “there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing
>> of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural
>> changes without personal changes” (70).
>>
>> “Efforts by households to reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with
>> prudence, are creating a new culture.  The mere fact that personal, family
>> and community habits are changing is … helping to bring about large
>> processes of transformation rising from deep within society” (71).
>>
>> The Holy Father ends his Exhortation with a reminder that “emissions per
>> individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of
>> individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average
>> of the poorest countries.”
>>
>> He goes on to affirm that “a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle
>> connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact.
>> As a result, along with indispensable political decisions, we would be
>> making progress along the way to genuine care for one another” (72).
>>
>> *Link:*
>> https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-10/laudate-deum-pope-francis-climate-crisis-laudato-si.html
>>
>> *Laudate Deum: Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis*
>>
>>
>> https://www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/2023/laudate-deum-apostolic-exhortation-of-pope-francis.html
>>
>> *Video Laudate Deum: Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis*
>>
>>
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwe_bd0TUjk&list=PLnS3YdZwNB2x1434IYXDiaZojPjXhoHmy&index=1
>> [image: Infographic Laudate Deum.jpg]
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