By Paul Dobbyn
POPE Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ has been called “a blockbuster”, “a call to action in a time of crisis”, “a game-changer for the Catholic community” and a call for the affluent “to live more simply”.
These responses and a flood of others, throughout the Catholic and wider commuity, have come since Laudato Si’(On the Care of Our Common Home) was released on June 18.
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said the “blockbuster document” was “a breath of fresh air in an often stifling debate” and that he was preparing “an executive summary of key points to send Australia’s political and economic leaders”.
“This is a deeply human voice that doesn’t address just the Church but absolutely everybody, because everybody has a responsibility,” he said.
“(The Pope says) it’s not just a matter of leaving it up to the decision makers as if it doesn’t concern you and me.
“Everyone has to make some kind of response to what the Pope clearly sees as a crisis.
“This is not just a narrowly ecological crisis, this document presents a seriously big and deep picture.
“When the Pope talks about ecology, it’s not just about the natural environment but the human environment; for instance the cry of the earth and cry of poor are the same cry.
“The degradation of natural environment has its roots reaching into the human environment.
“Deserts of the heart will create deserts of the planet.”
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Denis Hart, visiting US Sister of St Joseph Carol Zinn, Australian Catholic University Professor of Theology Neil Ormerod and Catholic Earthcare Australia director Jacqui Remond were among others to respond.
Archbishop Hart said he was pleased to see the encyclical critiqued “our weak response to ecological and social issues”.
“Pope Francis calls on people to seek new ways to understand the economy, condemns our throwaway culture and dependence on technology, and is calling on people to reassess the dignity of humanity and the integrity of creation in finding solutions to the ecological crisis,” he said.
Prof Ormerod (pictured) said Laudato Si’ had the potential to have a similar impact to Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum on the emerging union movement.
“Pope Leo’s encyclical encouraged and validated Catholic involvement in the union and gave the movement a moral legitimation,” he said.
“I think this encyclical will do the same for Catholic involvement in environmental movements.”
Prof Ormerod said Pope Francis’ comments on a lack of political will on these issues “rang true, particularly in our Australian context”.
Sr Zinn said Pope Francis “had done a wonderful job in saying the whole social fabric of the way we are with each other as humans is reflected right now in what the environment looks like”.
“Pope Francis addresses the encyclical to ‘every human heart on the planet’,” she said.
“The Holy Father says we need to live more simply; he makes a point of saying the way we treat each other is the way we treat the planet.
“He has a big, big concern about our throwaway culture; this goes from throwing away human life at all stages from the womb to the tomb, all the way to all the goods we throw away and pile up in landfills on the planet.”
Ms Remond said Laudato Si’ was “a game-changer for the Catholic community”.
“It offers us in Australia a powerful moral and spiritual imperative for environmental and social action,” she said.
“This encyclical calls on us all to embrace a new lifestyle that respects all of creation, and asks our leaders to commit to effective global agreements.
“The Pope refers to a broad range of topics including pollution and its effect on the poor, urban chaos, drug trafficking, refugees and human trafficking.”
