Sr Maureen Salmon, of the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar, is a Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan Team Member.
“To the powerful, I can only repeat this question: ‘What would induce anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?’” (Pope Francis, Laudate Deum 60)
Pope Francis’ 2023 exhortation Laudate Deum, on the climate crisis, is addressed to all people of good will. He is repeating his plea, first sounded eight years ago in Laudato Si’, for action to address the climate crisis that is threatening our common home. He is concerned at the lack of progress, saying that “with the passage of time, I have realised that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point” (LD 2).
I find these words dramatic and challenging for each of us personally, and for us as a society and as a church that believes in the gifts of our creator.
I think it cannot be denied that the climate is changing when we hear regularly the word unprecedented referring to some natural disaster. Whether that be the floods we recently experienced in New South Wales and currently in south-east Asia, or the bushfires in Greece and California, or the heat waves in Europe.
Laudate Deum goes into detail about the global climate crisis, its risks, damages, human causes and the resistance to its scientific truth. However, I think that the two sections headed A Growing Technocratic Paradigm and Spiritual Motivations are at the heart of the document and are well worth pondering.
Pope Francis asks us to consider the place of technology in our society and our dependence on it. He raises many issues that bear thoughtful discussion. We must weigh all the advantages technology offers against its ability to deplete the world’s natural resources and to cause social disharmony. For me his thoughts about the exercise of power were particularly insightful.
“Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely, particularly when we consider how it is currently being used … In whose hands does all this power lie … It is extremely risky for a small part of humanity to have it” (LD 23).
For we believers, we are motivated beyond the scientific and the economical dimensions of this situation. It is our belief that “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Humanity is part of the natural world, not something apart from it, but in fact dependent on it for its very existence. Laudate Deum puts it this way: “Let us stop thinking, then, of human beings as autonomous, omnipotent and limitless, and begin to think of ourselves differently, in a humbler but more fruitful way” (68).
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis reminded all Christian people that “living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (LS 217).
Pope Francis’ description of the climate crisis as “urgent” and “necessary” prompted the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in collaboration with the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar to develop a series of Conversation Packages.
We aim is to promote discussion of Laudate Deum (LD) and encourage subsequent action. Urgent Hope, the first in the series, has been released during this Season of Creation and is available to view and download on the Congregations’ websites.
I sometimes wonder how much we Catholics take seriously our responsibility to care for our common home. While it is true that solutions to the very complex issue of climate change rests with the decisions of governments, we can do our part in reducing our dependence on plastics, for example, being aware of the advances of technology and advocating for meaningful action to address critical issues.
As Christians, we are people of hope who believe in the goodness and power of God to transform our hearts and our world. With Julian of Norwich, the English mystic of the Middle Ages we proclaim, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well, for there is a Force of Love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go.”
Urgent Hope Webinar
A Zoom Webinar to complement the URGENT HOPE Conversation Package will be run by the Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan Team on 8 October 2024 (the day after Fr Julian Tenison Woods’ death anniversary – co-founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph). Details on how to register your attendance are given below. All people committed to taking meaningful action towards a more sustainable future are invited to attend.
The Urgent Hope Webinar details are:
- Date: 8 October 2024
- Time: Eastern Australia 11:00am to 12:00pm
- Hosts: Josephite Laudato Si’ Action Plan Team
- To register please click on this link: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1288347