Laudato Si as a GPS for navigating through this uncertain time

This week we are invited to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si, this key and prophetic encyclical from Pope Francis. As we are in the midst of a global pandemic and sanitary crisis that acts both as a revelation of our ills, dysfunctions and lights, good practices, this text takes on even more prominence. We can’t deny any longer the depth of our social and ecological crisis. At the same time, we are more aware of our interdependency and connectedness. For instance, the last synod on the Amazon has shown us how our choices and lifestyles in western countries have a great impact on the Pan-Amazon region and other places all over the world. This crisis is emphasizing Pope Francis’ teaching “that “Everything is interconnected” (Laudato si’, §70, 138, 240)  and illustrates that “we are all in the same boat” as Pope Francis reminded us during his meditation Urbi et orbi. We realize that the only way to go out from this pandemic is to act together in solidarity. Thus we are called to be in the crew with others to seek together how to navigate on a stormy sea with a lot of different currents. This crisis is a call to think and act collaboratively to design the course to follow and to implement the right maneuvers to move the boat in the right direction.

But the good news is that we are not lost on the ocean, we have already good roadmaps and GPS!  Laudato Si and the synod on the Amazon’s Final Document with its key words – alliance, conversion, integral ecology, synodality, mission, and dialogue – along with Querida Amazonia structured in four chapters – 1/ A social dream 2/ a cultural dream 3/ an ecological dream 4/ an ecclesial dream - give us clear and interesting guidelines that are proving to be truly prophetic in the face of this crisis. It expresses a strong call to change. It reveals how we are at the end of a system that destroys the earth and generates so many inequalities. And it is noticeable to see that the lockdown reinforces this awareness, as many people staying at home have discovered that they could live a simpler life and that it is good for the environment.

This crisis is a test that requires our creativity and audacity. This time is also a “Kairos”, an opportunity to stop and check in to choose a better future and build a better world. As we need to stay at home, we are confronted more closely with sickness and death, we are experimenting with our personal and communal vulnerability at different levels. So we have to go deeper in ourselves, to reflect on our lives and to discern the signs of the times that mean a common listening of the Holy Spirit through an attitude of decentering to listen to the peripheries. In the course of my religious life and my various ministries I have experienced how important and fruitful is it to cross the borders of our own congregation and to promote synergy, inter-congregational reflection and action, and more broadly, sharing with other sisters and brothers from different culture, vocation, spirituality, faith. May this challenging and uncertain time help us to foster the wave of people of goodwill working for the common good.

Sr Nathalie Becquart, xmcj, Boston May 18, 2020

Weekly Pause & Ponder

Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political, and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world.  Love for society and  commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not only relationships between individuals, but also “macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones.” …social love is the key to authentic development.

- Laudato Si’: Encyclical Letter of The Holy Father Francis

Action Opportunity on Human Rights and Climate Change

“The fragmentation of knowledge proves helpful for concrete applications, and yet it often leads to a loss of appreciation for the whole, for the relationship between things, and for the broader horizon, which then becomes irrelevant. This very fact makes it hard to find adequate ways of solving the more complex problems in today’s world, particularly those regarding the environment and the poor; these problems cannot be dealt with from a single perspective or from a single set of interests.” (Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ # 110)

As you know, leaders from countries around the world will gather in Paris next week to finalize the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP 21 – Conference of the Parties 21).

Climate change-related events are already causing loss of lives, livelihoods and personal property.  In addition, they are affecting health, water access and food security, as well as damaging critical infrastructure.  Moreover, climate change exacerbates existing vulnerabilities.  In 2008, the UN Human Rights Council underscored this point in stating that “the world’s poor are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change” (HRC 7/23, 2008).

So, while it is critical that the Paris Agreement establishes commitments that will reduce the levels of greenhouse gases in order to ensure the integrity and resilience of natural ecosystems, it is equally important that it protects the human rights of all, especially individuals and communities that are already vulnerable or marginalized. For this reason, many groups around the world are calling for the upcoming agreement to include the following reference to human rights in the operative section of the core agreement:

All Parties shall, in all climate change related actions, respect, protect, promote, and fulfil human rights for all, including the rights of indigenous peoples; ensuring gender equality and the full and equal participation of women; ensuring intergenerational equity; ensuring a just transition of the workforce that creates decent work and quality jobs; ensuring food security; and ensuring the integrity and resilience of natural ecosystems.

It is important to include this language calling for the protection of human rights because:

• While the Parties have recognized the interactions between human rights and climate change, they have not taken action to operationalize (ensure the effective function of) their rights obligations.
• Human rights will be affected by climate change itself as well as the actions undertaken in the agreement.
• In order to guarantee the mainstreaming and systematic application of human rights into climate change actions, this paragraph must  be included as one of the general provisions contained in the operative section of the Paris Agreement.  (Provisions contained in the preamble of a legally binding agreement have a much weaker political and legal status than the status of the operative provisions).
• Integrating human rights into the Agreement will allow for the informed participation of local stakeholders in the decision-making process when it comes to developing climate change policies, provide benefits for the most vulnerable and help to ensure that traditional knowledge will inform policy designs.

If you want to take action to work toward the inclusion of the above-mentioned paragraph in the final draft of the Paris Agreement, you could send a short email stating something like this --- “I am writing to express my support for the following revised Operative Paragraph: “All Parties shall, in all climate change related actions, respect, protect, and fulfil human rights for all, including the rights of indigenous peoples, gender equality and the full and equal participation of women, food security and intergenerational equity as well as a just transition of the work force that creates decent work and quality jobs and upholds the integrity and resilience of natural ecosystems.”  Send to MakeItOperative@aol.com.

Sue Wilson, CSJ
Director, Office for Systemic Justice
Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada
519-432-3781 ext. 402
swilson@csjcanada.org

Another Messenger Came…..Will We Listen?

Another Messenger Came…..Will We Listen?

...David Suzuki came, a voice crying in the wilderness; we laughed and barely listened as the smog increased.

...The First Nations came, beating drums for Mother Earth; we polluted the water and raped the land.

...The scientists came, with unquestionable evidence – the sea is rising, the earth is warming, the ozone is disappearing; we silenced them and destroyed their research.

...The poor came, unable to till the barren soil now becoming deserts; we turned away and continued our destructive ways.

...The hurricanes, fires, tsunamis and blizzards came; we rebuilt and carried on as usual.

...Pope Francis came carrying peace and Laudato Si.  Will we listen and mend our destructive path to end it all?

Will We Listen?

Jean Moylan, CSJ

Keeping Our Attention

Pope Francis, from his premier appearance on the Vatican balcony, has shown his ability to touch hearts, turn heads and get folks talking. This relatively new religious leader has caught the world’s attention.

Thomas Reese, in an article published in the National Catholic Reporter, explains the hype surrounding the much anticipated arrival and publicized release of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’,  within  both religious circles and throughout the worldwide secular media.  Reese contends that Laudato Si’ was on the right topic, at the right time, by the right person.

Global citizens have taken note and notice.  As a religious leader, Pope Francis desires that his second encyclical, Laudato Si’,  On Care for our Common Home will spark reflection, create dialogue, transform consciousness,  change attitudes and alter behavior patterns. The text of the encyclical is available at https://laudatosi.com . It is both relevant and readable.  Reese adds, “The reader is drawn to the journalistic rather than academic writing style of Pope Francis.” 

One might suspect that Francis shrewdly instituted the new day of prayer and celebration for the Church on September 1^st, entitled the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” to highlight annually his message and our role as stewards of our common home.

Nancy Wales CSJ