Analysis Of Pope Francis's 'Praise Be To You'
In the long-awaited 184-page environmental treatise, titled Laudato Si’, or Praise Be to You, published by Vatican Press in June 2015, Pope Francis described how apathy and the reckless pursuit of profits, excessive faith in technology and political shortsightedness, along with the relentless exploitation and destruction of the environment, are to blame.
Encyclicals are letters to the clergy and laity of the church that are considered authoritative. The document was sent to the world’s 5,000 Catholic bishops and 400,000 priests who will distribute it to their parishioners. Given the sheer number of people who identify as Catholics worldwide, the pope’s clarion call to tackle climate change could reach far more people than even the largest …show more content…
Pope Francis places most of the blame on fossil fuels and human activity, while warning of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequence for all of us” if corrective action is not taken swiftly. His powerful message on climate change should change the debate around the world, sparking the kind of action needed to reverse global warming.
The encyclical was released some six months before a United Nations summit meeting, to be held in Paris in December, in which governments around the world will be trying to find some way in which every nation would commit to new policies to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Many governments have yet to present plans, including major emitters like Brazil, which has a large Catholic population.
Pope Francis called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, blending a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action. He also used the papal encyclical to condemn our “throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to
Encyclicals are letters to the clergy and laity of the church that are considered authoritative. The document was sent to the world’s 5,000 Catholic bishops and 400,000 priests who will distribute it to their parishioners. Given the sheer number of people who identify as Catholics worldwide, the pope’s clarion call to tackle climate change could reach far more people than even the largest …show more content…
Pope Francis places most of the blame on fossil fuels and human activity, while warning of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequence for all of us” if corrective action is not taken swiftly. His powerful message on climate change should change the debate around the world, sparking the kind of action needed to reverse global warming.
The encyclical was released some six months before a United Nations summit meeting, to be held in Paris in December, in which governments around the world will be trying to find some way in which every nation would commit to new policies to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Many governments have yet to present plans, including major emitters like Brazil, which has a large Catholic population.
Pope Francis called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, blending a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action. He also used the papal encyclical to condemn our “throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to