Laudato Si'

Laudato si’
Encyclical letter of Pope Francis
on
CARE
FOR OUR COMMON HOME
© John Donaghy

“Praise to
you, my
Lord”,
Saint Francis
of Assisi used
to sing.

The testimony of Saint Francis of Assisi and his
Canticle of the Creatures inspired Pope Francis in
this encyclical on the care of creation,
our common home.

Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Brother Sun, through whom you give us
the day and illumine us. He is beautiful and radiant
with great splendor; he bears a likeness of you,
Most High.

Praised be you, My Lord, for Sister Moon
and the stars; in the heavens you formed them
– clear, precious, and beautiful.

Prasied be you, my Lord, for Brother Wind and the
air, the clouds, the serene heavens, and for every
type of weather; through all these you sustain your
creatures.

Praised be
you, my Lord,
for Sister
Water, who is
very humble,
precious, and
chaste.

Praised be you, my Lord, for Brother Fire,
through whom you illumine the night;
he is beautiful, joyful, vigorous, and strong.

As Pope Francis comments:
“…our common home is also like a sister, with
whom we share existence.…

… and like a beautiful mother who
welcomes us in her arms.”

Pope Francis offers us a mystical understanding of the
universe.
“The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely.

“Hence, there is a mystical meaning to be found in a
leaf,

“in a poor person’s face.”

But, Pope Francis reminds us,
creation, though a gift from God,
has been marred by human
sinfulness.

“We have come to see ourselves as [creation’s]
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 living beings.”

Pope Saint
John Paul II
“called for a
global
ecological
conversion.”

This conversion includes care for
creation and the poor.

And Pope Francis calls us to recognize that
“the effects of [our] encounter with Jesus Christ
become evident in [our] relationship
with the world around [us].”

This is a conversion moving out
of a “throw away culture”
to a “culture of encounter.”

As Pope Francis
wrote:
“A sense
of deep communion
with the rest of nature
cannot be real
if our hearts lack
tenderness,
compassion and
concern
for our fellow human
beings.”

“[Saint Francis of
Assisi]
was particularly
concerned
for God’s
creation and for
the poor and
outcast.”

“The poverty and
austerity of
Saint Francis
were no mere
veneer of
asceticism,…

… but something
much more
radical:
a refusal to turn
reality into an
object simply to
be used and
controlled.”

Pope Francis calls us
to a new way of being,
not merely new ways of acting.

“If we approach nature and the environment
without this openness to awe and wonder,

… if we no longer speak the language of
fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the
world,

…our attitudes will be those of masters,
consumers, ruthless exploiters of resources,
unable to set limits on their immediate needs.”

Pope Francis says:
“I urgently appeal, then,
for a new dialogue
about how we are constructing
the future of our planet.
We need a conversation
which includes everyone,
since the environmental challenge we
are undergoing,
and its human roots,
concern and affect us all.”

“We require
a new
and universal
solidarity.”

“Our insistence that
each human being
is an image of God
should not make us
overlook the fact
that each creature
has its own
purpose.

“No creature is superfluous.

“The entire material universe speaks
of God’s love,
his boundless affection for us.”

“Soil,
water,
mountains:
everything is,
as it were,
a caress of
God.”

But, as the bishops of Southern Africa have
stated: “Everyone’s talents and involvement are
needed to redress the damage caused by
human abuse of God’s creation.”

“All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the
care of creation, each according to his or her own
culture, experience, involvements and talents.”

“The world is more than
a problem to be solved…

… the world is a joyful mystery to be
contemplated with gladness and praise.”

Texts taken from the encyclical Laudato Si’
of Pope Francis,
slightly revised based on the Spanish version.
Photos © John Donaghy, 2015

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