“Healing of the Earth”

On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe the Catholic Church in Canada observes a National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. This year's focus is “Healing of the Earth.”  

A message for the occasion highlights: humans form a single family dwelling on Earth; ecological conversion frees people to care more for Earth; and indigenous citizens teach attitudes and ways of Earth care. The Vatican News post links to the message.

This year's Canadian National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples focuses on the theme “Healing of the Earth”.https://t.co/xgPkPtOa6Z

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) December 11, 2020

A Moral Imperative for Today

In a 12-minute TED Countdown Talk Pope Francis offered 3 actions steps to address climate change. He sounded notes from his encyclicals Laudato Si! and Fratelli Tutti.

This second address in this venue by the Pope was part of the of the TED Countdown Global Launch. The website hosting the video described it as “a visionary TED Talk from Vatican City.”

"Two Key Words of Integral Ecology"

Pope Francis received a delegation of Laudato Si! Communities. He reflected on “contemplation and compassion” in his address. Jack Wolf tweeted the Vatican News post that offered context for Francis’ address and a summary. 

Pope: contemplation, compassion indispensable for integral ecology - Vatican News https://t.co/hAsjXYZddF via @GoogleNews

— JACK WOLF (@JackWolf57) September 13, 2020

First the Launch; Then Five Years Later

A press conference at the Vatican heralded Francis’ Laudato Si! five years ago. Another press conference (video below) marked the encyclical’s anniversary.

The Vatican also released a book on the occasion. America Magazine’s Vatican correspondent Gerald O’Connell noted the just-released book “contains incisive and challenging proposals for the practical implementation of Pope Francis’ encyclical throughout the church and in the wider world.”

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Wiki-image Air pollution by brick factories by “Janak Bhatta - Own work | CC BY-SA 4.0"

Attitudes Shifted with Laudato Si!

Two “Princeton University doctoral candidates in political science…recently released a paper studying the impact of “Laudato Si’.” On the America Magazine podcast, Inside the Vatican, Colleen Dulle conversed with authors Sam Winter-Levy and Bryan Schonfeld. They found a “significant shift” in opinion after the publication of Francis’ encyclical: “churchgoing Catholics [believe] that climate change is real and caused by humans, and that there is a moral imperative to take action on it.”

In addition to the link to their conversation, the article contains links to read more, including the full paper.

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Wiki-image Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge by “Diego Delso | CC BY-SA 4.0"

Cosmos and the Body of Christ

Early in his tenure as pope Francis called attention to contemporary gnosticism, “a purely subjective faith whose only interest is a certain experience or a set of ideas and bits of information which are meant to console and enlighten, but which ultimately keep one imprisoned in his or her own thoughts and feelings” (Joy of the Gospel, 94). Early in its life the church faced gnosticism. St. Irenaeus of Lyons was confronted by it and responded to it.

Jesuit John Moffatt noted that the ancient bishop “a story affirming God’s relation to the cosmos that binds the Eucharist into the goodness of the created order and the practice of social justice and care of creation.” Most fitting as contemporary Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

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Wiki-image Procissão de Corpus Christi (Goiânia, Brasil) 2019 by “Eugenio Hansen, OFS | CC BY-SA 4.0"

Conversation: Racial Injustice and Space Exploration

Former astronaut Leland Melvin conversed with Bill Nye about personal experiences—one could have changed his life so that he would not be an astronaut; about Amy Cooper, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd; as well as space exploration.

Bill Nye and former astronaut Leland Melvin talk racial injustice and space exploration (video) https://t.co/MAHjtoFe9F pic.twitter.com/9jPPB2CeK1

— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) June 13, 2020

The Pope on World Environment Day 2020

On today's observance Pope Francis wrote, “We cannot pretend to be healthy in a world that is sick.” As members of the environment human efforts for its health go hand in hand to foster “a more humane society.“

#PopeFrancis calls for a change in attitudes, so that we may leave a better and healthier planet to later generations. #WorldEnvironmentDayhttps://t.co/Jm4HsWqavG

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) June 5, 2020

World Environment Day 2020

Its theme is biodiversity. Many individuals issue a call to “wake up” and help the environment grow health again.

Known Since 1856

Women have been discounted. That caused some women to write with a nom-de-plume that suggested the author was a man. In some venues women could not lecture; scientific societies are examples.

In 1856 Eunice Foote could not offer her discovery that CO₂ exposed to sunlight warmed the surrounding air and the receptacle that contained it: a man offered her paper. The data was ignored. So begins a video description of Eunice Foote and two men who noticed early changes to climate.

Three pioneers who predicted climate change https://t.co/mJekvLDObD via @bbcideas

— Paul Panaretos (@PDPswim) June 5, 2020

Anniversary Looks to Future

Today’s Vatican News editorial notes that celebrations of the pope’s integral ecology encyclical “help bring out what the document has set in motion in communities throughout the world. They also help us reflect on its relevance in the here-and-now, as the world fights against the Covid-19 pandemic.”

On the 5th anniversary of #PopeFrancis' encyclical, our Editorial Director calls Laudato si' a road map for building more just societies that are capable of safeguarding human life and all Creation. #LaudatoSi5 https://t.co/Lp8ziDt36Y

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 24, 2020

Ending but Not Too Late

Today we come to end of Laudato si' week - how have you marked it? We've got an archive full of articles about Pope Francis' encyclical, so why not explore it today? https://t.co/tuchr5axhS pic.twitter.com/HyA0KxgyHQ

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) May 24, 2020

Care, Worship, Name

The Global Catholic Climate Movement sponsored a webinar during Laudato Si! Week. Cardinal Peter Turkson participated. Daughters of St. Paul Sister Bernadette Mary Reis summarized his contribution. The post includes an audio-link to the cardinal’s 9-minute presentation.

Cardinal Peter Turkson explains how care for Creation is connected with worship, and St Francis of Assisi’s vision of Creation. #LaudatoSi5 https://t.co/Q5XrvaHH7B

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 22, 2020

Effective

Microcredit extends very small loans to impoverished borrowers who do not qualify for conventional loans. Microcredit does help the lives of poor people. Vatican News highlighted the “largest interest-free microfinance organization in the world.”

The magic of Akhuwat, founded in 2001 in Pakistan by Dr. Muhammad Amjad Saqib, lies not in interest rates but compassion, solidarity and equality.https://t.co/wVTKyVkhJg

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 22, 2020

Definition and Reminder

A social encyclical is a pastoral instrument of modern popes. One defintion: "A large-scale, detailed letter sent out by the pope to everyone in the world, treating social issues (usually economic ones) with a combination of critique and counsel, defining paramount principles, pointing out urgent problems suggesting a direction for solutions" [Source]. Laudato Si! is rarely heralded as social. Yet, “Pope Francis himself says that Laudato si is also a social encyclical.”

Msgr. Pierre Cibambo with @iamCARITAS Internationalis says we should always remember that Laudato sì has both an ecological and a social message. #LaudatoSi5 https://t.co/SbQYe4TAO6

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 22, 2020

“Fundamental anti-values”

The world after the pandemic needs other values, said Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny in an interview. Laudato Si! articulates that faith can do justice to “three fundamental and intertwined relationships.” The encyclical had already inspired initiatives before its 5^th birthday.

In an interview to mark #LaudatoSiWeek, @jesuitczerny urges us to let the encyclical shape the way we think about the #coronavirus crisis and find solutions to the fault lines it is highlighting. https://t.co/pschRFfsV8 pic.twitter.com/WHV6p2BZAN

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) May 22, 2020

Laudato Si! & Covid-19

Celia Deane-Drummond selected key lessons that Pope Francis’ encyclical relevant to the pandemic.

If the link in the Tweet below fails, access here article through this link.

As we celebrate #LaudatoSiWeek, Celia Deane-Drummond of @CampionOxf's Laudato Si’ Research Institute explains why the encyclical is more relevant than ever.
“Four Lessons from Laudato Si’ amidst COVID-19 Pandemic”:https://t.co/GeTBvzz1MQ pic.twitter.com/vKFufuB4lP

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) May 21, 2020

More on Anniversary Week and Year

Also contains audio of Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam’s remarks.

Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam, an official at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, reflects on the upcoming 5th anniversary of #PopeFrancis' encyclical Laudato Si'. #LaudatoSi5 https://t.co/TNCdn5tql5

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 19, 2020

"You are ignoring us”

The “‘structural collapse’ of the Amazon Region” is more possible, say the bishops of that region. Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network’s Cardinal-President, Cardinal-Vice President, and its Secretary signed a statement made public “early Monday morning.” While many in the world consider how the world can be different after the pandemic, in the Amazon region much of the same activity seems to continue apace.

The Bishops of Latin America call for urgent action to avoid a humanitarian and environmental tragedy in the #Amazonia region.https://t.co/wzqhpQYcIB

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) May 18, 2020

Conversion is “Hard Work”

In the recent issue of the Plough Quarterly digital issue, entitled “Regeneration,” Bill McKibben focused on that aspect of conversion. His subtitle: “With Covid-19, we’re glimpsing the kinds of transformation we need to tackle climate change.” Both disease and climate are interrelated.

What do humans want to happen? For example: “in those cities where the sky is suddenly clear and blue, people might decide that they’d like to keep it that way instead of reverting immediately to the previous haziness.” Will people make that and other things happen? Or “will we pick up where we left off?”

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Wiki-image Drought by “www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons | CC BY 3.0"