In remembrance of Pope Francis – “WE are all linked by unseen bonds…”
“Laudate Deum” – A cry for a response by all people and all faiths to the Climate Crisis
An Apostolic Exhortation – “Laudate Deum” was delivered on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi by Pope Francis.
The Vatican told us that this Exhortation is six chapters and 73 paragraphs in length. The Vatican says it builds on and adds clarity to his previous text on this topic in 2015, again “sounding an alarm, and a call for co-responsibility, in the face of the climate emergency”.
From the Vatican News – Full story here [The footnotes in the Vatincan’s story of which there is an excerpt below refer to, and are found in the original document]
Excerpts:
“The Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos defends the unique and central value of the human being amid the marvellous concert of all God’s creatures,” but “as part of the universe, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect” (67).
“This is not a product of our own will; its origin lies elsewhere, in the depths of our being, since God has joined us so closely to the world around us” (68).
What is important, Pope Francis writes, is to remember that “there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes” (70).
“Efforts by households to reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with prudence, are creating a new culture. The mere fact that personal, family and community habits are changing is … helping to bring about large processes of transformation rising from deep within society” (71).