POPE IN THE AMERICAS
Pope Francis has already been to South and Central America. This week he will visit Cuba and the North of the Americas. It is said that he encourages people to call him just "father", the word all common people use to relate to their local priest. It is generally believed that priests have to do with God, blessings, religious ceremonies and a humanitarian behavior, and it is so with most of them. But in the context of Humanity history they have done something people tend not to see, that has been fundamental for the world´s development: all through history, priests from every religion have been guardians of knowledge. From the Hebrew fathers, the Egyptian priests, the Greek pitonisa, the Tibet monks, the Muslim spiritual leaders, their very service implies working into, through and for essential ancient wisdom. During the middle ages, the darkest times the world has seen, abbeys - priests headquarters - became bunkers of knowledge guarded from pillage and wars.
Among the many congregations the Catholic church has had through times, Jesuits worked up their place in history for one specific reason: be one of them implied a highly learned man in many subjects, science, math’s, astronomy, cultures, medicine and, of course, all subjects related to theology. Knowledge attached to their vows of simplicity and service - a blend that offered heavenly believe as well as very earthly helpful wisdom - made them a strong congregation noticed everywhere they settled and, for the same reason, they were persecuted whenever ignorance spotted them and feared them. As modern societies developed, their fields of study widened from the physics of the world to Human society related issues. The love for knowledge has been the Jesuits trademark in history. Their shinning point comes when one of its members, south American monseñor Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis, head of nearly 3 billion Catholics on Earth, a man that has showed in these first years of leadership the Jesuit trademark: knowledge that makes him humble and understanding of this World´s miseries and glories.
That is why Earth people should not let Laudeato Si pass unread. It is a very long document, it is true, and for unbelievers some of its content may be conflictive, but the document as a whole is a thorough, deep, comprehensive, learned X-ray of planet Earth today. Surely it has the input of many professionals and the Jesuit depth can be sensed. He says: " If we are truly concerned to develop ecology capable of remedying the damage we have done, no branch of the sciences and no form of wisdom can be left out, and that includes religion and the language particular to it." It makes sense, as the World is a collective production, it would not be wise to overview the keen eye of a congregation that has made knowledge part of their reason for existence all through history. And although their hearts are tied to heaven their minds are very well tied to Earth. Some of the Laudeato Si titles show it: "Technology: creativity and power"; "Ecology of Daily Life"; "Justice Between the Generations"; "Civic and Political Love"; "The Mysteries of the Universe"; "Climate as a Common Good". It is, indeed, an honest, crude, accurate view of Earth´s miseries and glories.
It is a fact that the Catholic Church has moved from inferno to the sublime in history: bloody wars, corruption at many levels, pederasty. But it is also true that this Pope has frontally faced finantial transparency in the Vatican, pederasts, and service burocracy; he has showed an open mind to traditional conflicting issues like divorce and homosexuals; he has promoted religious reconciliation, care for the planet, and his banner for service has been people, common people. A Rider of Change. His Laudeato Si is not just another Pope´s Enciclica. It is the learned view of people who care for people and their common home. The Vatican would do well "translating" the document´s content into a shorter web-like information so that all peoples, especially the young generation, understand where they are standing. Should they do it, in a near future Earth people will certainly say: Laudeato Si. /Silvia Davila MM, August 31, 2015. (c)
LAUDEATO SI INDEX
“Honest debate must be encouraged among experts,
while respecting divergent views.”
“Science and Religion,
with their distinctive approaches to understanding reality,
can enter into an intense dialogue
fruitful for both.”
Laudeato Si
Chapter One
¿What is happening to our Common Home?
Pollution and climate change
Climate as a common good
- The issue of water
- Loss of biodiversity
- Decline in the quality of human life and the
- Breakdown of society
- Global inequality
- Weak responses
- Variety of opinions
Chapter Two
The Gospel of Creation
The light offered by faith
The wisdom of the biblical accounts
The mystery of the universe
The message of each creature in the harmony of creation
A universal communion
The common destination of goods
The gaze of jesus”Civic and Political Love””The Mysteries of the Universe
Chapter Three
The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis
- Technology: creativity and power
- The globalization of the technocratic paradigm
- The crisis and effects of modern anthropocentrism
- Practical relativism
- The need to protect employment
- New biological technologies
Chapter Four
Integral Ecology
i. Environmental, economic and social ecology
ii. Cultural ecology
iii. Ecology of daily life
iv. The principle of the common good
v. Justice between the generations
Chapter Five
Lines of Approach and Action
i. Dialogue on the environment in the international community
ii. Dialogue for new national and local policies
iii. Dialogue and transparency in decision-making
iv. Politics and economy in dialogue for human
fulfilment
v. Religions in dialogue with science
Chapter Six
Ecological Education and Spirituality
i. Towards a new lifestyle
ii. Educating for the covenant between humanity and
the environment
iii. Ecological conversion
iv. Joy and peace
v. Civic and political love
vi. Sacramental signs and the celebration of rest
vii. The trinity and the relationship between creatures
viii. Queen of all creation
ix. Beyond the sun
